Mass Effect: The Battle Of Tuchanka (Season 2)
by jerseydanielgibson
Summary: The Chaos Legion, a mishmash of races and abilities, have been sent to the Krogan planet of Tuchanka. Reaper forces have begun to push into the Krogan DMZ, and the battle has quickly turned into a bitter ground war. The Legion's objective is to turn on a ship-killer defense array to fight off the Reapers as they enter the system, before the Reapers take it for themselves... (O/C's)
1. Prologue

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter Prologue: Conversing With A Legend

"_Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason, you have an incoming call on the QEC."_

Royce looked up from what he was working on, cleaning and calibrating his many weapons, and sighed. The Chaos Legion had been on the Turian Frigate TSV _Cherva Tern _three days now, sitting in the Widow System of the Serpent Nebula, awaiting orders. The days off had been good recuperation time, but now he itched to get back into the fight, as did the rest of his squad. Royce has spent his time modifying his M320 Vulcan cannon, changing out the original heat sinks for ones made of high-grade frictionless material. Once top-of-the-line mod equipment, not to mention expensive, the ship's requisition officer had merely raised a plated eyebrow in confusion when the Australian-born man asked if he happened to have any lastgen weapon mods. Getting up from his work station in his personal quarters, having finished swapping the frictionless heat sinks in, the Human N6 Marine made his way from the crew deck to the bridge deck, where the communications bay was located. One slow elevator ride later, he was walking to the door that had two Turian soldiers guarding it, checking out his credentials before letting him pass to where the Quantum Entanglement Communicator was located. Stepping to the strange device, the Australian-born man pressed the acceptance button, and found himself looking upon a legend.

Commander Shepard of the SSV _Normandy_.

"Good to see you, Commander." Royce saluted the holographic representation of the N7, saluting in return. "Heard you made it off of Earth and got back into the fight."

"_Harbinger and his pals were partially responsible for springing me out of the brig._" Shepard replied dryly, eliciting a chuckle from the Australian. _"Saw that you just got done with a stint on Menae. I was just there myself securing the Primarch, so I read up on your report. This Enigma Signal… it's got Hackett smiling as much as I've ever seen on his face; never thought that be possible. If it's half as effective as your report suggests…" _The Commander went silent for a moment, recalling something. _"I knew Chorban, right before I became a SPECTRE. Wanted me to scan Keepers as part of some pet project of his. Needed credits at the time, since I was finding myself hunting down a rogue Specter, and needed as much high-end weaponry, so…"_

"The fates can be as kind as then can be cruel." Royce returned when Shepard paused for a moment, the Commander nodding in agreement.

"_It was obvious he was a shady little bastard, but that didn't stop me from saying no, did it?"_ The N7 let off a small chuckle. _"Who would have thought that a moment of 'why-the-hell-not?' would have given us a trump card now, when we are in such desperate need of such?"_ Shepard went silent again, obviously mulling over something. The Marine could easily see the wear-and-tear of the war on the Commander's face, what weight must be pressing down on those shoulder? _"How did Chorban die?"_

"We jumped into a surrounded Command and Control Tower, thousands of Reaper ground forces surroundin' the Center where the Reaper Tower was." Royce supplied, determined to give a more intimate description than what was on his report. "We held them off where we landed, having Chorban and a Turian hack through the door as we were pressed on by about several hundred Husks, Cannibals, and Marauders. They still came, and we couldn't kill them fast enough. Sometime durin' the hack, Chorban got shot in the stomach. A Batarian by the name of Garm Jor'radah protected him from what we coined a 'Behemoth' while Chorban was doin' his best to input the modify code he had from your Keepers. It worked, and soon the Reapers were tearin' each other apart, but Garm had died defendin' Chorban, who himself had died from his wounds completin' his task."

"_Amazing. I never would have pegged Chorban as such."_ Commander Shepard said finally, the words distant in thought. _"He had hired some mercs to kill his business partner, some Volus I can't really remember much of; a deal gone sour. Talked the both of them out of it. Everything worked out. Chorban got his scans."_ Again, a moment of silence that Royce didn't interrupt. _"So many already gone, and it's like there's a long list of friends I never knew I had, willing to fight on, even people I had met just once. Where would we be now if I had decided to turn him in? Or refused to cooperate? Makes me wonder that if the Reapers are the personification of evil, then who is on our side?"_

"I'd hope God would take the lead role, but right now I'd settle for just about any miracle, no matter who it came from, or where." The N6 replied, the Commander of the Normandy slowly nodding in agreement. "Hierarchy Command is doin' its best to try and replicate the feat we accomplished, though it seems that we can only do it through a Reaper comms tower. Capture a few more of those, and perhaps we can permamently win back Menae. Maybe Palaven. Maybe even Earth."

"_One can only hope."_ Shepard responded, not at all sounding like an agreement. _"I'm on a mission on Tuchanka, Lieutenant, which is the real reason why I called. Reapers have arrived at the DMZ, though nowhere near in the strength I would think it would take them to decimate it. They're planning something, and I don't doubt that it's disastrous at best. I'm sending your team to a hotly contested spot, Mason; I have a feeling we're going to need as many Reaper-killers on ground there as we can afford. Your team is already in transit, and quite good at their jobs. Victus will get your Captain to drop you off, and I'll have Hackett bless off on the orders. We're going to need you there, Lieutenant. I don't doubt that _I'm_ going to need you there with what I've got to do."_

"That bad, eh?" Royce shook his head, thinking it out. Commander Shepard wanted _their_ help? "We'll be there with bells on, Commander. After all, who's like us?" The Marine asked with a cocky grin and a salute.

"_Damn few."_ Shepard replied with the same smile and salute. "_And we're a quickly dying breed, Lieutenant. I should go. But… good luck and good hunting, Mason."_

"You too, Shepard." Royce returned. "Go get some sleep, Commander. You look like shit."


	2. Chapter 1

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Episode 2: Mass Effect - The Battle of Tuchanka

A/N: For those new to this series, I strongly recommend you read Mass Effect: The Battle of Menae (Season 1) before continuing on. If you already have, enjoy Season #2!

Chapter 26 - A Hateful Planet, Day 11 Midday

"Urdnot Base Control, Urdnot Base Control, this is Chaos Air!" Lieutenant Jeff Harbeck shouted over the comm unit, trying to connect with the fortified Forward Operating Base set up one hundred klicks from the capital of Urdnot. "Urdnot Base Control, this is Chaos Air! Please respond!" The Human pilot gritted his teeth as he flew the UT-47A Alliance Shuttle, recently repaired and refitted on the Turian Frigate TSV _Cherva Tern_, with a few upgrades thanks to the Turian military. The shuttle, despite its upgraded inertia dampeners and more streamlined power transfer case, was being buffeted and banded about in the turbulent atmosphere of the Krogan planet Tuchanka. The winds were blasting the shuttle at over two hundred klicks an hour, and the amount of dirt, sand, dust, and particles in the wind made normal visuals impossible to fly by. The Canadian gritted his teeth as he flew by instrumentation alone, which was affected by the leftover gamma radiation of Tuchanka's permanent nuclear winter. The constant terrible weather that Tuchanka suffered made any kind of flying rather hazardous to anyone going on- or off-planet. "Anyone on this net, this is Chaos Air! Approaching landing beacon. Our vector 270.5, distance 5, altitude 3,000, requesting permission to land at Base Kilo Sierra!"

"_Chaos Air, this is Urdnot Outpost _Krenjin_,"_ came the reply over the comm unit, making the pilot sigh in relief, _"we have you on our scanners. Come in, and mind that headwind; it's a killer"_ The speaker on the comm unit had the guttural tone of a Krogan, and had been punctuated by a laugh at the warning.

"Thanks for the tip." The Canadian quipped, looking over to the co-pilot's seat, occupied by another human, this one in full combat gear. "ETA, five minutes, Lieutenant. Tell everyone to buckle up their sensibilities, 'cause it's going to get choppy!"

"You really know how to sweet talk 'em, doncha, Jeff?" Lieutenant Royce Mason said with a light tone as he stood from his seat, grabbing onto a nearby handle to steady himself as the shuttle rocked and shuttered under the fury of Tuchanka's wrathful weather. "Just try to make sure we crash somewhere _near_ the landing beacon, please?"

"No promises in combat!" Harbeck replied mirthfully, making the Australian-born man grunt in response as he moved from the shuttle's cockpit and into the cargo bay of the UT-47A, where eight men and women were strapped down in their respective seats, holding on tightly as the shuttle bucked and brayed through the terrible Tuchankan weather save the Krogan mercenary Jorgal Thrak, who was chuckling at everyone else's displeasure. Royce held onto a grab-strap, feeling the shuttle pitch slightly to the port as he held on, his eyes going over everyone in his unit, dubbed _Chaos Legion_. Seven of them he had worked alongside on the Turian moon of Menae, the largest moon of Palaven.

Asari Vanguard Asha T'vara sat in one seat, holding on tightly to the restraint bar that locked her in, all the while looking at the Human Marine with a soft smile. Turian Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan didn't seemed to be enjoying being tossed about in his seat as his mandibles quivered, looking as if he were praying to the Spirits. Former Blue Sun Captain Preitor Gavorn was surprisingly asleep in his seat, the Turian's head leaning against one of the restraining bars. Chief Petty Officer Stacy Valentino was smoking a cigar of all things while fiddling with her OmniTool, the Human Sentinel oblivious to the harsh ride. Turian Tech Specialist, First Class Vona Arterius merely sat in her seat, the sniper looking indifferent to the bouncy ride, as if a drop into Tuchanka was an old thing for her. Jorgal Thrak, being a Krogan, was giving his version of a pep talk, telling anyone that would listen to him of the thousand interesting ways to die on his Homeworld. The Quarian Biotic Eloa'Varis nar Tombay vas Thessia seemed to be white-knuckling the whole ride, grasping onto her restraining bar as if it were the only real thing around her.

Which left Royce with his newest, latest member.

Engineer, First Class Vian Torvan was a recent addition that the Chaos Legion had picked up from the TSV _Cherva Tern_, a gift from the Turian Hierarchy after their two losses on Menae; the Batarian SIU Agent, Commander Garm Jor'radah, and the Salarian researcher, Jaleel Chorban. He came highly recommended from the Turian Frigate's Captain, who had been very reluctant to release the Engineer to the Lieutenant's command. The Turian himself didn't seem very enthusiastic with joining the Chaos Legion, especially once the Engineer heard where it was they were going. Unlike the other members, who had joined together because they had been more or less stuck together in Menae, Vian Torvan had been ordered on board. At the least, the Engineer had heard the stories of their accomplishments on the largest moon of Palaven, and what had happened there. Notoriety was never a bad thing, Royce thought as he motioned everyone to pay attention as he addressed them all.

"Listen up, crunchies!" The N6 spoke up, letting his voice do the talking as oppose to using the comm unit. "We're five mikes out from Outpost _Krenjin_, where the Krogan forces are staged as a large defensive position in an old military complex." The Australian looked to eight pairs of eyes, seeing that he had everyone's attention. "The Reapers are startin' to make their appearance on Tuchanka, but in smaller numbers than what was projected. We don't know why, except that the Krogan do _not_ want to give up their planet!

"For those not in the know, we have been ordered here not only by Turian and Alliance Command, but also by the Overlord of Tuchanka himself, Urdnot Wrex." That had more than a few trading glances with one another, the name associated with the Battle of the Citadel back in '83. "Evidently, he's got some damn good friends in damn high places, and he's asked for yours truly to come down and help the Krogan forces hold this complex off as Turian ships make planetfall to pick up and transport Krogan forces to bring relief to Turian forces planetside on Palaven."

"Krogan… are asking for help?" Elias Korvan pointed out, his dual-tone indicating surprise and disbelief. "On Tuchanka, of all places?"

"Something about buildin' intergalactic will and relations… and the fact that Commander Shepard asked us to be here, and gave us a glowin' vote of confidence." That had everyone in the shuttle flabbergasted. There wasn't a sentient being that hadn't heard of Commander Shepard; first Human SPECTRE, Hero of the Citadel, supposedly killed and resurrected just to survive a suicide mission through the Omega-4 Relay to destroy a species that worked for the Reapers. The fact that Shepard vouched for them… they only had to look at Royce, knowing that he was an N6, to figure out how they got that recommendation. "So, yeah. We're here. And we have a mission. Pretty big one, too."

"Somehow I doubt it's to wax philosophical with Krogan Priests and introduce the concept of art to their _baabaas_." Vona Arterius lamented, her duel-toned voice filled with irony.

"Naw. We're startin' up the old Tuchankan ShipKiller Planetary Defense System." The Australian-born man told them, which had Thrak bellow out in shock.

"They're letting us, as in non-Krogan… into the _Shaigur_ Defense Array?" The Krogan merc's eyes were as wide as Royce had ever seen them. "We built those during the height of the Krogan Rebellion to keep the Turians back! It'll down a Dreadnought coming through a Relay long before it reaches kinetic-strike range. They weren't activated back then, having just been completed when… when…" The merc went silent, looking at the N6 Marine, and the Krogan's eyes went shrewd. "They said we would never activate them until the day the Genophage was cured."

"That was the next part of the message." Royce said, having every eye on him. "The Turians wanted Krogan help for Palaven, and the Krogan gave them an ultimatum; a cure for the Genophage. According to Alliance Command and… well… Urdnot Wrex… Commander Shepard did just that. Cured your people, Thrak." That had the Krogan look positively serene for a few moments, obviously lost in thought. "Now that the Genophage is cured, the Krogan are keepin' their word, and sendin' their warriors to Palaven. Unfortunately, Reapers have gotten the message, and are tryin' to prevent just that. Wrex needs the ShipKiller Cannons activated to hold off the Reapers."

"Let me guess, the compound is under attack?" Eloa'Varis asked, her voice synthesizer unable to hide her sarcasm.

"Surrounded on all sides, and under constant attack." Royce confirmed, making most in the shuttle groan good-naturedly. "The Krogan are tough bastards, but they're seeing kinds of Reapers no one else has seen before. Kinds that weren't on Menae, Earth, or Palaven." The Marine waited, letting the words sink in. "If the Reapers take over the compound and take over those Cannons, they will control this entire system very easily, and won't even need one of their ships to defend the Aralakh System or the Krogan DMZ. If we hold off the compound and activate it under our control… the same will be true for us, and we permanently own a part of Inner Counsel Space."

"So deploy on a hateful planet where every living species thinks us a meal, add some pissed off Krogan and some Reapers in the mix, and we got ourselves a picnic." Elias mused, the Turian sniper's tone playful. "Could we possibly head to Omega next? I doubt we've covered every shithole place in the galaxy so far."


	3. Chapter 2

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter 27 - Some Like It Hot, Day 11 Midday

The UT-47A shuttle landed on what appeared to be an old concrete pad that might have been a landing pad or a rooftop at one point of time, but millennia of nuclear abuse had turned it into just a mostly flat spot for a shuttle to land. The shuttle hit the ground gently, and one of the cargo bay doors opened, exposing nine figures inside the shuttles' interior to the harsh elements of the planet of Tuchanka. The figures stepped out of the shuttle under the scrutiny of three Krogan warriors; two were Heavy Infantry, while one was a Scout. Their eyes saw what stepped out; two Humans, one Asari, four Turians, a Quarian, and a Krogan; Clan Jorgal by his markings. As soon as the nine figures were off the shuttle, the Alliance craft lifted off, heading into the constant turbulent weather of Tuchanka. The three Krogan looked at one another as the nine figures approached them, one of the Humans, a male, took the lead, approaching the three Krogan.

"I'm Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason, N6, Alliance Marines." The Human male identified himself, his helmet hiding his features due to the harsh wind, the dust, and the radiation. "I'm Chaos 6 of the Chaos Legion, whom you see behind me." The Human gestured to the eight behind him by throwing a thumb behind one shoulder. "We're under orders of Overlord Urdnot Wrex, here to see Battlemaster Urdnot Greve."

"Greve is expecting you." The scout spoke up, looking at the Human. "I am Urdnot Darg, Scout and Infiltrator for Clan Urdnot. I will take you to Urdnot Greve." The Krogan motioned for the Chaos Legion to follow him. The nine figures got in line behind him, and Darg moved from the concrete pad that was on the surface, and led them to the first tunnel, where Clan Urdnot was massing their forces for the push to the _Shaigur_ Defense Array. Outpost Krenjin ended up being an old amphitheater of some sort, half buried by fallen walls and debris. It was underground, and when they reached the open area of the sunken amphitheater, the Human Marine checked his OmniTool for something, and obviously satisfied with what he saw, took off his helmet. The Human took a deep breath with his eyes closed, as if he were testing the air for scent, though for all Darg knew about Humans, didn't have the olfactory sense that the Krogan possessed. The Marine turned back and nodded his head, and the rest of the Chaos Legion took their helmets off as well save for the Jorgal Krogan and the Quarian female; the Krogan hadn't been wearing one, and Darg had never seen a Quarian without one. One of the Humans and one of the Turians were females. It was an odd group of aliens, and he wondered what the Clan Chief saw in these outsiders.

The Krogan Scout held his reservations for the time being.

The amphitheater was filled with Krogan; filled to the rafters. Darg saw a vast majority of the clans represented in the amphitheater, either preparing to be deported to Palaven, or to move in force to the Cannon Complex. Clans Urdnot, Jorgal, Weyrloc, Drau, Forsan, Gatatog. Hailot, Nakmor, and Ravanor were all represented in the amphitheater, and it had been the second time in a week for such an event to happen without there being a massive blood feud. The Clan Chiefs and the Shamans were keeping everyone in line, and the prospect of killing an enemy that made everyone else quake had the Krogan strangely optimistic, especially after what happened at the Shroud just the day before.

"Come, Human. Urdnot Greve is right ahead, through this knot of Krogan." Darg told the Marine, who merely nodded. The Scout watched as the Human give a quick glance around the amphitheater, seeing the hundreds of Krogan in the enclosed area. The Urdnot Scout gave the Human some credit; he looked unafraid, and smelled calm as well. Any other sane being wouldn't walk into a huge throng of Krogan in the best of circumstances, yet the Human who identified himself as Lieutenant Royce Mason seemed unperturbed. The others that followed him were at unease save for the Jorgal Clan Krogan. The Turians were unable to keep their eyes still, expecting to be jumped by anything at any direction, and the Quarian looked ready to practically jump out of her suit. The only other one that didn't seemed too worried was the Asari, walking close to the Human Marine. A quick sniff at the two confirmed his first suspicion; they were meldmates at the very least. _Lucky asshole_, Darg thought grudgingly to the Human, one of the Scout's wide set eyes giving a healthy glance to the Asari warrior appreciatively. It made him think of Charr and Ereba, a Krogan who had taken an Asari as a mate. Darg hadn't approved at first, but he had understood that Charr would never be able have children… unless it was with an Asari. Of course, things had changed now, but he understood what it was that Charr wanted; a child of his own, a future to look forward to. The Scout couldn't fault that.

Darg led the nine members of the Chaos Legion to where Urdnot Greve was waiting, talking to a Turian of all people. The Turian was a merchant freighter Captain who was undoubtedly there to transport the gathering Krogan forces. Whatever the Urdnot Krogan and the Turian Captain were saying, it looked like they reached an amicable agreement, ending the arrangement with an actual handshake; the sight of the handshake had Darg raising a bony browplate. The Turian left, and Greve turned his attention to Darg, the Battlemaster's eyes going to the Scout first, and then to the nine people that followed him.

"Battlemaster, I have the squad that Overlord Wrex told us to expect." The Urdnot Scout said simply, indicating to the Human Marine, who stood a respectful few paces back, making no move until being acknowledged. The Lieutenant obviously knew a little about Krogan relations, waiting to be recognized by a leader before making a move.

"So I see." Urdnot Greve said, stepping forward, both of the Battlemaster's wide-set eyes going to the Human Lieutenant as the Scout watched Greve move right to the one who called himself Royce Mason, the Krogan's face right into the Human's, only inches apart. To his credit, the Human didn't flinch, back away, or coward away; instead, the Human's eyes stayed right with the Krogans'. "Wrex and Shepard told me about you, little Human. Wrex is my _krantt_, and Shepard is his. They said that you and your _krantt_ are good."

"I'd rather prove it to you than you just havin' to take their word, Battlemaster." The Marine responded, making the Battlemaster nod thoughtfully. Urdnot Darg had to admit, the Human didn't lack a quad, but also didn't seem like the boastful type, either. The Scout looked over to the Jorgal Krogan that came with the Human, knowing a Blood Pack mercenary when he saw one. Blood Pack generally didn't follow anyone else but a Krogan. If that one followed a Human, then the Human had earned the merc's respect, at the very least. "I was told that Reapers are threatenin' your planet and your people, Battlemaster. If there's one thin' we're good at, it's killin' Reapers. Point us in the right direction, and we'd be more than glad to see who gets a bigger kill count."

"Ha!" Urdnot Greve exclaimed, a smile breaking the Krogan's scarred visage, the Battlemaster's posture changing to a more relaxed position. Darg knew that Greve was a veteran of over six hundred years of battles, but loved a good challenge. If a Salarian had landed on Tuchanka and made the same offer, the lizard would have found its liver in its mouth. This Human was different; they both knew that he was an 'N', and even the Krogan had been impressed by the prowess of Human 'N' candidates; Earth's equivalent of Battlemasters. Darg had seen an N7 in action once, and had impressed his clanmates of the Human's proficiency in battle and war. He didn't admit it, but the same Human had saved his life as well. Darg owed a Human, and Krogan always paid their debts. "I accept your challenge, Human! We'll be moving out to the Defense Array in _Tomkahs_ within the hour, and we'll have to liberate some of the structure from the Reapers. I'll be looking forward to seeing you in action, Human."

"So, ten of yours against ten of mine? Highest kill ratio wins?" The Human replied, his tone cocky. Darg marveled him for a second; the N6 definitely had a quad. The Human's squad looked a little perplexed by the way the conversation was going, save the Krogan mercenary. The Scout was a little perplexed as well; he had only seen nine get off the shuttle, and there had been only nine scents. Even a cloak could disguise a scent for so long, and definitely not within this proximity. The Human noticed the Battlemaster's and the Scout's confusion, seeing as the Marine's squad didn't number ten. "Yeah, I lost a couple of my _krantt_ back on Menae killin' a Reaper Yahg. You know what a Yahg is?"

"I've seen one before." Greve admitted, his tone grudgingly impressed. "They're tough fighters. Very hard to bring down."

"Yeah, we found that out the hard way. Had to shove a grenade down its throat and blow off its head to take it out. Lost the Batarian SIU Agent who did it, unfortunately." The Human grimaced at the memory of it, and Darg was surprised to smell that the Human seemed to _miss_ the Batarian. Last the Scout knew, Humans and Batarians were mortal enemies. Then again, Turians were being allowed to land on Tuchanka without being shot at on sight. "I am in need of one of your warriors, Battlemaster. One who knows the area and the locations. Reapers are pretty crafty, and it helps to have personal local knowledge of the area. Thrak says he hasn't been back on Tuchanka since his Rite, so we need someone who's been here in the past couple hundred years or so."

"I'll go, Battlemaster." Urdnot Darg volunteered, looking at Greve, who turned just enough for one of his eyes to look over at the Scout. "I want to see this Human's mettle in action. And I can smell death on them. Where they go, the killing should be good, and the Human speaks sense; knowledge of terrain can swing a battle."

"Fine. Go with the Human, and make sure he does not get lost and find himself in a _boghtah_ pit or a varren den." Greve said, waving an arm in an obvious dismissal. Nodding, the Scout turned to the Human and gestured for him and his group to follow him. Darg moved towards a _Tomkah_, and waved at it, suggesting for the Chaos Legion to load up into the vehicle.

"Dibs on the gun!" One Turian called out, smiling as he looked at the cannon that was mounted on the top, the Turian practically drooling.

"You're an asshole, Preitor." The Human female shook her head, obviously exasperated. "That thing was built for Krogan. You're going to need a booster seat." That had Darg chuckling, alone with one of the other male Turians, the one armed with a sniper rifle.

"The Texans' got a point; you'll never be able to work it." The Jorgal Krogan mercenary said, pushing the Turian in question aside none-too-gently. "Sit in the back somewhere and cry, Turian. _I've_ got the _brishka_ gun." The Blood Pack member slid his bulk into the _Tomkah_ first, heading towards the gunners' hole as the rest of the Chaos Legion began to file in as the Scout watched on.

"Gee. Who else is glad to be stuck in a metal bucket with a bunch of egos and bad attitudes while a Krogan drives?" The Quarian huffed through her suit's vocalizer, crossing her suited arms underneath her breasts, looking over to the Turian female. "Some may like it hot. Me? I just hope I don't end up puking in my helmet!"

A/N: Tried to do a different viewpoint for a change. BTW, Urdnot Darg is a canon character, that poor scout who was captured by Clan Weyrloc that you can convince to be a man and go get some _pinochas_.


	4. Chapter 3

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter 28 - A Fistful Of Krogan, Day 11 Before Evening

The ride, Chief Petty Officer Stacy Valentino thought to herself, was thankfully short, though the way Urdnot Darg drove the Krogan-manufactured _Tomkah_ made her wondered why the vehicle somehow didn't explode somewhere along the way, the way it seemed to hit every pothole and crack along the way. Everyone inside the crawler was shaken and stirred, and the Texan could swear that Engineer First Class Vian Torvan looked ready to throw up all over the place, not that she would blame the Turian. The crawler came to a stop, and the Krogan Scout indicated that they were within a few klicks of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array, and would have to walk the rest of the way. As the Human Sentinel understood it, the Krogan had built it so that no vehicle could approach it, nor could a ship drop troops off in it. The Texan was at least grateful that Lieutenant Royce Mason hadn't suggested another jump; that hadn't been something Stacy had enjoyed, and she had no doubt that the N6 would leap at the chance at another insane stunt. Damn N's were known for being unconventional, but landing in a courtyard of a enemy-held building was not her idea of fun.

The Chaos Legion stepped out of the _Tomkah_, helmets and breathers on save for the Krogan, and it was then that Chief Stacy Valentino saw what it was that would be their objective.

Five super-huge artillery pieces set in a geometric pattern; each half-a-kilometer long.

"Spirits preserve us…" Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan muttered, his words echoing through the comm unit to where everyone heard it. "I can see why the Krogan thought this would stop the Reapers. Those have to be the largest guns I have ever seen!"

"Right you are, Turian." Jorgal Thrak answered, looking up at the artillery pieces as well, his voice close to awe. "These were to hold off the Turian Armada during the Rebellion, to shoot down any ship that came through the Relay, long before it darkened Tuchanka's scanners. One shot from one cannon can cripple a Cruiser or a Dreadnaught. The next would blast it into oblivion." The Krogan went silent, and his words settled onto everyone in the Chaos Legion as they looked upon the huge guns that stood up in the Tuchankan sky. "The Salarians infected us with the Genophage before we could activate them, and we've kept the knowledge of them hidden for over fourteen hundred years, promising only to use them when we were cured… and then establish ourselves in our rightful place in the galaxy."

Stacy wasn't too sure she liked the sound of that.

The Chaos Legion found themselves groundside where a ransack concrete building stood, its walls cracked and broken, to where a portal with no door stood. In front of the door was a fistful of Krogan, five warriors of five different Clans standing guard outside of the entrance with either assault rifle or shotgun out, ready to defend it. The Sentinel saw Royce approach the lead Krogan, his words coming through the comm unit as they were all wearing helmets to avoid choking on the radioactive dirt and dust of Tuchanka save the two Krogan and the Asari Vanguard Asha T'vara, who was merely wearing a breather unit.

"Oh, good. The cannon-fodder are here." The lead Krogan came up, facing Royce. The warrior was wearing a visor of some sort, along with heavy armor and a shotgun that looked to be a M11 Wraith. "We were wondering what the next set of pyjaks would look like coming in, trying to root out all the uglies in here."

"That's right; we're the bug squad." The N6 replied cheerfully enough, making Stacy want to shake her head. The man could be insufferable, though he was of a good sort. She briefly wondered if all Australian men were like that, though she had a fairly good suspicion that any question along those lines towards Royce might have the Asari's hackles out. The Human Marine reached behind his back, and pulled out his monster chaingun that had been set on his back, the M320 Vulcan cannon extending out into its operational configuration. The lead Krogan eyeballed the multi-barreled weapon as Royce cradled it with both hands, obviously enjoying himself. "So… got a layout of the place?"

"Urdnot Greve did say he was sending heavy hitters." The Krogan nodded, seemingly pleased with what he saw in front of him. "I'm not happy with aliens on my planet, but I'm a simple Krogan; an ally is an ally, and an enemy is not. If we're out here killing the same thing, then I've got no qualms." The Krogan slapped himself hard on the chest, identifying himself. "I'm Khel Burrum, and this is my _krantt_ behind me." Stacy looked to the other four Krogan, whom merely stood there passively. "Fifty of us once held this complex of varren warrens and pyjak tunnels, but the Reapers pushed in, and pushed us out. We were told that a group would be coming in to help clear the place while the other clans began assaulting the perimeter to distract the Reapers. My fist will help guard your back, but these Reapers have had time to dig in like _boghtahs_." Burrum eyeballed the Vulcan cannon that Royce carried. "Which doesn't look like that'll be a problem for you."

"Darg! Vona!" The Human Marine called out, the Urdnot Scout and the Turian Infiltrator coming forward. "Grab the layout schematics from Khel Burrum, and you two will be our Scout Kill Team. Your objective is to move forward with stealth, and to gather intel of enemy positions and best routes through. I'm not worked about onesies or twosies; I want to burn fortified positions, strong points, and ambushers. Any choke points and fatal funnels you can create for any that want to come after us, be my guess. Identify all resistance and we'll sweep and clear. Remember that you are _not_ taking on a hornet's nest on your own. You're much more useful to me without a hundred shots in your hide and plates. This is a recon mission. Copy?"

"We copy, Royce." Tech Specialist, First Class Vona Arterius nodded, giving the Urdnot Scout beside her a friendly smack on the shoulder. "You want left or right, big guy?"

"I favor my left side, _parsha_." Stacy's translator didn't get that, but it seemed to please the female Turian sniper well enough. "We'll keep in contact, Human." Both Krogan and Turian walked towards the portal of the building, yet beofre they reached it, both accessed the OmniTools and with a few commands, disappeared from sight before reaching the door, obviously engaging their Tech tactical cloaks. It surprised the Sentinel a little bit with the sight of a one-ton Krogan completely disappearing from sight with the aid of a light-bending program created by OmniGel-created diodes in the Scout's armor.

"Got to get me one of those." Elias Korvan said wistfully, his subvocals definitely emanating envy. "Too bad the program takes up so much OmniTool memory and OmniGel reserves."

"Get duel OmniTools." The Chief told him matter-of-factly, activating both of hers to show the Turian sniper just what she meant. "The only downside is having to holster your weapons if you need to swap back and forth. I guess being a Biotic means I don't have to worry about that too much, especially with my Tech Armor upgrades." The Texan noticed that the Turian was eyeballing both her OmniTools, and she could almost hear his mandibles twitching.

"We should definitely trade programs. I think I got some drone programs you'd love to have. Especially the exploding recon drone."

"_Lieutenant, this is Tech Specialist Arterius."_ Vona's voice came over the comm unit, clear and steady. _"We've reached the first intersection, with nothing to report. Moving ahead, slow and steady."_

"Roger, we're comin' up behind you." Royce replied, snapping his fingers and pointing to the door that the Turian and Krogan had entered just a few minutes before. "Lock and load people, we're movin' in. Khal Burrum? You've got the _Tomkah_ and the door. Make sure that no one decides to come at us from behind and nip us on the butts. I don't doubt the perimeter will be seein' a good deal of action." The Krogan, to Stacy's amazement, merely nodded for being put on a rear guard position. Of course, Royce was undoubtedly correct; the Reapers wanted the complex, and would force their way in if the Chaos Legion succeeded. "Let's move in and make ourselves at home."

Chief Petty Officer Stacy Valentino keyed in her Tech Armor before pulling out her M4 Shuriken and readying her OmniBlade program on her left OmniTool, noting how much OmniGel she had in reserve. Lieutenant Royce Mason motioned for Captain Preitor Gavorn and Jorgal Thrak in first, the Turain and the Krogan clearing the first room before the rest started filing in two at a time. Stacy wasn't surprised to see that Asha T'vara was working alongside the Human Marine; the glances and looks they shared strongly suggested that there was definitely something going on between the two. The Sentinel thought it was kind of sweet, as long as both of them kept their heads in the game, and not in the gutter. She reminded herself to talk to Royce about that, as the N6 was not much more than a kid himself despite being an N6. Stacy didn't mind playing an older sister, especially to someone was having to deal with a mixed command as Royce had. The knowledge that she had his back would probably reassure the Australian-born man, knowing that he could confide in someone during the stickier situations.

The Chaos Legion came into the building, and began to disperse into their tactical positioning as the fistful of Krogan defenders came into the first room, setting up their positions at the entrance. It would be a slaughter for the Reapers if anyone tried coming up behind them, and Stacy saw with approval how Khel Burrum situated the four Krogan into locations that would afford them maximum firepower while exposing them minimally. A bunkered down Krogan was a terrible thing, indeed.

"Good luck in there, Human." Burrum said to Royce, the Clan Khel Krogan eyeballing all of the members of the Legion equally. "The Reapers were tough enough to kill several fists of Krogan, all bloodied and scarred warriors, tried and true. Do not underestimate our enemy."

"Sound advice, Khel Burrum. I will definitely listen to it." Royce let go of one of the handles of his chaingun and went to shake the Krogan's hand, who readily accepted it. "May your enemies be strong, and scream loud when they die."

"Likewise, Human." The Krogan gave a smile, which made his ugly visage all the more worse, in Stacy's opinion. "Humans may be softer than us, but they've shown me time and time again that 'soft' doesn't equal 'weak'. I expect Husks and Marauders to be tearing out of holes and walls trying to escape your wrath."

A/N: So… I made the Tactical Cloak based upon the Predator's cloak because… well… there's science behind it. And Khel Burrum is a canon character as well, for those who remember the Pinnacle Station DLC.


	5. Chapter 4

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter 29 - For A Few Krogan More, Day 11 Early Evening

OmniTools and weapons lights clicked on as the ten members of the Chaos Legion entered into the darkened corridors of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array compound, the concrete corridor filled with dirt, darkness, and creepy feelings. Asari Vanguard Asha T'vara had her M15 Vindicator out, her weapons' light playing on some of the wall in front of her. Next to her side was Lieutenant Royce Mason, who had, for once, slung his Vulcan cannon on his back and had his M8 Avenger out, a light beam cutting through the darkness from his assault rifle. The Human Marine was still wearing his helmet, as the rad count in the corridor was still uncomfortably high for Mankind, though the Turians had taken their helmets off. Asha had taken her breather off, taking a testing breath of the air to find it stagnant and rancid. It almost made her want to put her breather back on again, but it only had a limited supply of breathable air, and she wasn't about to waste it just because of some foul smells.

"_Lieutenant, Vona here."_ Tech Specialist, First Class Vona Arterius spoke over the comm unit, the female Turian's duel-toned voice low and subdued. _"We've gone about three hundred meters into the compound on the suggested route, and we've found more than a few Krogan bodies that seemed to have held off a critical junction point. Approximately eight."_

"Acknowledged." Royce replied, his helmeted head looking towards her, in which Asha nodded, activating her OmniTool and marked off eight Krogan as dead of the possible forty-five. "If you have the means to destroy their brains quietly, do so. I noticed on Menae that they could bring back the dead as Reapers, but only if their heads were intact."

"_We shall make it happen, Royce."_ The Turian replied, the line going dead. Asha grimaced at the thought of desecrating the dead, but chose not to comment on it. She hadn't seen the part where a crushed skull would prevent someone from being spiked on a Dragon's Tooth, but the Asari had seen dead bodies converted in Menae. Royce made the right call, even if it was against normal sensibilities. When it came to the Reapers, though, it seemed all sorts of rules were thrown out the window.

"May the Krogan Warrior Gods look after their souls in favor." The Vanguard intoned quietly, and though she didn't mean to be overheard, she saw that the Krogan mercenary Jorgal Thrak had turned slightly to let his left eye look at her for a moment, obviously having heard her words. He surprised her by giving her a small nod of his massive head, perhaps pleased with her benediction. Asha knew little of Krogan culture, but everyone knew how warlike the Krogan were. While the Asari generally believed in the Goddess Athame, the Turians in the Spirits, Quarians in their Ancestors, and a majority of the Humans in their God Father and His Sons Jesus Christ and Holy Ghost, she honestly couldn't say what the Krogan believed in. Yet if the Krogan believed in a deity, it would undoubtedly be some godlike Overlord Battlemaster with a weapon in hand, standing fierce and proud on a mountain of defeated enemies.

The group continued on, and a few minutes later, Asha found herself looking upon the eight Krogan in question, all seeing to have died in battle. Surprisingly, the Asari found that all their heads had been crushed, or rather, smashed in. The Vanguard didn't begrudge Urdnot Darg's task of making sure his brothers stayed dead, probably with the Scouts' foot. She watched Royce look at the Krogan, the Human Marine silent as he stood in place, looking at the bodies. _What could be bothering him? _Asha wondered, knowing that Royce had seen more than enough dead bodies being an N6.

"I was thinkin' about Eden Prime." The Australian-born man said, obviously having noticed the Vanguard looking at him. "I was rememberin' comin' across Dragon's Teeth with friends… family." That had the Human quiet for a moment as well as the Asari. "Came across my whole family on spikes, suspended in the air. Da, Ma, and my sister, impaled as if they were nothin'. And then the spikes lowered down…" The N6's words faded out, and he unconsciously rubbed his right forearm, where Asha had seen a bite mark during one of their more intimate moments on the _Cherva Tarn_. The Asari didn't need him to continue on anymore with his story; she could guess well enough, knowing how Dragon's Teeth worked. Asha put a tentative hand on Royce's right arm, right where the bite marks were. That had his helmeted head looking over to her face, his eyes barely seen through the visor.

"We're here now to save families, Royce." The Asari Commando told him reassuringly, giving him a nod. "We're here to help spare others that pain, to keep them from knowing what you and I know."

"You're right. Of course." The Marine sighed, sounding loud coming from his helmet's vocalizer. "Let's get out of here. Nothin' left here but the dead and bad memories."

The ten members of the Chaos Legion moved through the dark corridors of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array, traveling underneath crumpled structures and dilapidated hallways, the only source of light coming from the warriors that stalked down the underground walkways. Vona Arterius often called back with recon reports, sometimes finding Reaper bodies, sometimes finding Krogan ones. The female Turian sniper and the Urdnot Scout were good at their jobs, and they thankfully hadn't gotten lost in the darkened maze of the complex built to hide Krogan movements from Turian forces during the Rebellions. Asha kept a tally of the Krogan members that they found alone the way, reaching near the thirty mark when Darg announced that he and Vona had reached the end of the labyrinth-like complex and into fresh Tuchankan air. The rest of the Chaos Legion caught up with the Krogan and the Turian, finding themselves in a courtyard of sorts, filled with broken walls and waist-high barriers. The courtyard was about three hundred meters long, about fifty meters wide, and a host for no less than four Brutes, as well as several four-legged creatures that were Reaperfied, though Asha didn't immediately recognize the species it once was. All of the members of the Chaos Legion got behind a piece of wall or barrier in a defensive position as Royce saddled up beside Vona and Darg.

"Brutes. I hate these assholes. Asha, tick off four more Krogan off that list." The Human Marine said, the Asari nodding in compliance. "I don't recognize the demon dog thin's. They look vicious."

"Varren." The Urdnot Darg replied simply, his deep, rumbling voice quiet. "Thought they only took sapient species. Seems like they'll Reaperize anything that comes into their grips."

"Great. Vicious Reaper attack dogs." Elias muttered, popping his OmniTool just around the corner of the pillar he was standing behind to see, having a display that would let him see around the corner. "I count… fifteen of those Demon things. Four Brutes for sure, unless the ensuing firefight brings more."

"You're jinxing us again, Elias." Eloa'Varis shook her helmeted head. "Biotic detonations for starters, Lieutenant?"

"What would work best, Asha?" The N6 asked her, deferring to her knowledge of Biotics, as she was an Asari. That had her smiling.

"Stacy, Eloa? Aim a Warp at the lead one, right into the center of its chest." The Vanguard told the other Biotically-capable members of the Chaos Legion. "Timing will be everything. Everyone else? I suggest something large and damaging in the way of guns and grenades, but the first few seconds we shall hold the tactical advantage. I suggest we take full use of the opportunity. You boys just remember to start shooting when you hear the really big 'boom'."

"No problems there." Thrak replied, pulling out both his M76 Revenant and T24 Phaeston, holding one in each hand. Everyone else indicated that they were ready; Elias had his M92 Mantis out, while Engineer First Class Vian Torvan had his M12 Tempest in one hand, and a Sentry Turret in the other hand, ready to throw. Captain Preitor Gavorn had his own Phaeston out, while Vona held her M54 Krysae sniper rifle to her shoulder. Urdnot Darg had out a monster sniper rifle, an M98 Widowmaker, by the looks of it, while Eloa'Varis held her M44 Kimber close to her chest as she glowed Biotically. Chief Stacy Valentino held a M4 Shuriken in one hand, forming a blue-black orb of Biotic energy in the other, while Royce collapsed his Avenger and switched it out for his M320 Vulcan cannon, cradling the gun he affectionately called 'Old Painless'.

Asha herself was ready, with her Vindicator close to her chest as she felt the static build-up of Biotic energy throughout her body, collecting in her left hand. She was grateful that she was of a race that was born naturally with Biotics, as oppose to the other races, in which was usually the result of an accident. Asari didn't have to worry about having surgically-grafted implants for Biotic Amps, which Asha wore behind her ear on an earframe. The build-up brought to a more-than sufficient amount of power, Asha looked to Stacy and Eloa, and gave a decisive nod of her head. All three Biotically-capable women threw their hands out, discharging the bio-electric build-up generated from the Eezo-nodes that grew inside their bodies. Three blue-black orbs rushed towards the closest Brute, which had just turned to look right at where the Chaos Legion had taken position. It never had a chance as all three orbs struck the Brute in the chest, colliding with each other and Reaperfied flesh at the same time.

The result was catastrophic.

Dark energy exploded with the force of a small bomb as the Brute was turned into a mangled mess, flesh and bone violently blasted away as the form of the Brute was almost instantly turned into a pulp-like sac of meat and cybernetics. The mutated Krogan was dead in a second, its body beyond conventional recognition. The force of the explosion had rocked most of the Reaper-mutated Varren, in which Royce and Elias had coined 'Demons', off of their feet, some slamming into the concrete pillars or the broken barriers. The sound and the force, of course, alerted the three remaining Brutes, facing in the direction in which their murdered partner had once existed. It didn't help them that dozens upon dozens of round began shooting at them, hitting their tough hides as the Chaos Legion opened up on the Reaper forces.

Asha felt her Vindicator rock into her shoulder with every three-round burst, the recoil and adjustment to it second nature to the commando. Her shots were hitting the third-furthest Brute, seeing how most of thier squad was shooting at the same one she was save for Royce, Darg, and Vona. The Human Marine, with his heat sink-reliant chaingun, had taken on the closest Brute by himself; an unspoken command that he would do so alone. The two recon specialists had taken their powerful sniper rifles and fired at the furthest Brute, their shots knocking the beast to its feet, and the next set from the two snipers quickly proving that they would soon be finishing it off. In less than twenty seconds, all three Brutes were down as the first Varren-creature bounded over a waist-high barrier, its cruel jaw full of fangs menacing as Asha launched a Throw orb at the critter, hearing it slam into a pillar with a satisfying crunch. A few other Demons were shot as they exposed themselves, or Thrown by one of the three Biotics in the Chaos Legion. All in all, the battle lasted less than a minute, with no casualties on their side.

"Hoorah!" Royce parked his chaingun on a nearby barrier, letting the annihilating weapon cool off as he surveyed the battle. "Easy and lopsided. I wish all Reaper battles went this well. Let's clear this room, see if we can find a few Krogan more to cross off, and head deeper into the complex. Accordin' to the blueprints and schematics, we're almost to the main compound for the _Shaigur_ Defense Array. Undoubtedly, the real welcomin' committee will make this one look small and weak in comparison." The N6 collapsed his chaingun and set it on his back, pulling out his Avenger. "Darg? Vona? You're on point." The Krogan Scout and the female Turian nodded as they moved forward. "And Asha?" The Asari looked over to the helmeted head of Lieutenant Royce Mason, wishing she could see his brown eyes when he complimented her.

"Good call, and very well done."

A/N: Yes, Asha messed up on the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. You wouldn't expect an Asari to understand the Bible, would you?


	6. Chapter 5

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter 30 - For Whom The Bell Tolls, Day 11 Evening

_Damn you, Brother._

The dark corridor ahead of her was filled with small piles of debris, strewn wreckage that was once part of the concrete tunnel until it had fallen from its place from earthquakes, bombs, enraged Krogan, or passing Thresher Maws. She had no idea what the corridor was originally meant to do, but knowing the Krogan, it had 'death trap' written all over it.

Tech Specialist, First Class Vona Arterius really hated dark tunnels.

"Lieutenant, we've got three more Krogan bodies, as well as a dead Brute." The female Turian sniper said over her comm unit, her subvocals soft as she maintained her stealth, her Tactical Cloak bending light around her body to make her, for all intent and purposes, invisible to nearly every spectrum that the eye or scanner could detect. It wasn't perfect; there were ways that some could find an Infiltrator. Krogan could smell one if one were to linger long enough, or if they got close enough. Hanar had an unusual ability to detect the bending light, though most didn't understand what they were looking at. Elcor, of course, had a better sense of smell than even the Krogan, and could detect the pheromones, but like the Hanar, may not understand what or why. And then there were those who just had a 'feeling', that gut instinct that one earned if their lives were at risk long enough. Still, it was 99% effective, and Vona loved nothing more than to bypass a defense, or slip into a lockdown, or flank an enemy unseen.

Just like her Brother once had.

"_Four more Krogan to the count."_ Lieutenant Royce Mason replied, acknowledging Vona's transmission. _"We've accounted for all the Krogan save five, Vona. Keep up the good work, and be mindful of the Reapers; it wouldn't surprise me if we walked into a mob of them."_

"Understood, Royce." The Tech Specialist replied, looking over to where Urdnot Darg stood, though she couldn't see him. It had surprised her at first to see a Krogan with a Tactical Cloak of his own, but it made sense in her mind; he was a Scout, after all, and would need to go deep into enemy territory unseen. It was a little cruder than hers, where she could spot the slight distortions of the wave pattern if he moved faster than a slow walk. Yet the way he moved, despite his bulk, suggested that he not only knew of this flaw, but had compensated for it as well. Darg was both a credit to his species and his profession, and Vona found herself pleasantly surprised working alongside him.

The sniper waited as Darg tested the air with his nose, a skill she couldnt' replicate, but had quickly learn to rely upon. The Krogan sense of smell was highly lauded, and Vona learned quickly that the Scout could smell a corpse or a living being before they got to them. When they had found the courtyard with the Brutes and the Demons, Darg had sniffed them out first thirty meters before reaching the passageway that would lead them there. She might have been smaller and better hidden than her Krogan counterpart, but his nostrils almost made up a scout team in of itself.

"Reaper pack, up ahead." Darg rumbled quietly, holding his M98 Widow in the direction in which he found the scent, as he had done before. "Couple of corpses; Varren, by the smell. As many as ten different scents, though these halls don't let the air move."

"An idea of what lies ahead is better than _no_ idea." The female Turian replied. "I will take lead, Urdnot Darg, as I have the ability to see around corners." The Krogan Scout grunted in the affirmative with the suggestion, and Vona moved ahead, stepping over the fallen Krogan and moving down the dark corridor. The Turian got to a corner, in which the Scout indicated that was where the scents were coming from. Dropping her visor over her right eye, Vona clicked on her Krysae's scope, letting her see what the scope saw without putting her eye to the cup. She slowly inserted the rifle around the corner, doing a slow scan of the room without exposing her body, all the while letting her pan the room, her visor transmitting to her what the scope saw.

What she saw had her pursing her mandibles in reservation.

"What do you see, Vona?" The Krogan Scout whispered his question, standing beside the female Turian sniper, holding his Widow at the ready.

"A type of Reaper I've never seen before. They look… wrong. Grotesque." Vona Arterius replied, pulling her Krysae sniper rifle back. Setting the rifle on her back, she pulled up her OmniTool and showed what she had seen to Darg. The Scout took a look at the display that showed what Vona had seen, and the Urdnot Scout shook his head, indicating that he had never seen its like before. That had Vona swear softly as she touche her comm unit, turning it to its whisper mode to better pick up her softened subvocals, and to keep any response low enough for her to hear, but not to alert anyone else.

"Lieutenant? Vona Arterius here." The sniper whispered, her words being transmitted to the N6 a few hundred meters behind them. "I've got a visual on a type of Reaper unit Darg and I have never seen before. Forwarding it to your OmniTool to see if anyone else can recognize it."

"_Will do, Vona. Send it and hold off until we can either figure it out, or we come up with a plan on how to deal with it.."_ The Human Marine replied. The Turian sniper sent the image to the Human's OmniTool, and waited a few seconds before she heard an answering grunt from the Australian-born man. _"Vona? I actually do recognize this type of creature."_ That didn't surprise the Infiltrator; Royce had been fighting Reaper forces since '83, and had intelligence gathered from none other than Commander Shepard. _"It's called a Scion; some sort of creature that the Collectors used during an attack on Horizon last year. Uses some sort of Biotic Shockwave. Lots of armor, tough to kill."_

"Tough to kill, that sound like just about every other Reaper variant we encounter." The female Turin quipped. "There's ten of them loitering in a mezzanine-style structure, and we haven't seen any sort of bypass or route to avoid them. We're going to have to fight them, and two of us aren't going to be enough to take them down, Royce."

"_Figured as much."_ The Australian-born man replied over the line. _"We'll be in your position in a few minutes. Keep low and quiet and see if you can find any high ground or defensive positions for us to use."_ The line went dead as Vona looked up to the Krogan Scout, who was already surveying the topography of the place, finding a small balcony on the next floor, and some ruined stairs that led towards it. Together, Turian and Krogan went up the stairs as quietly as they could, finding themselves on a balcony that looked stable enough. Both had their respective sniper rifles out and ready, cradled in their hands, their scopes on the mutated things that the N6 had called 'Scions'. Vona keyed into Chaos 6 that they were set into position, though an interesting question came to mind.

"Which… head… should we aim for?" The female Turian asked her counterpart, looking at her scope, seeing one Scion, with its multiple heads and limbs coming out from odd locations. The Krogan grunted, evidently not being able to come up with a better answer than she could. No one head was particularly larger than the others, though one head seemed to be in the correct location. Vona found herself studying the abomination, and found it similar to the Husks she had encountered before, back on the Citadel… when her Brother had threatened the entire galaxy with the Reapers. She could hear Royce come over the line, giving positions to their team, to make a deadly cross fire against the mangled Reaper variants they found themselves facing. She could feel it in her heart that this wouldn't be an easy fight; these Scions looked to be a specialized unit, much like Brutes. Not to mention that there was ten of them. Ten on ten was never a good scenario, especially in Turian training, tactics, and procedures. Perhaps the Human had something up his proverbial sleeve, as the Earth saying went.

"_The first shot is going to matter the most, so make it count by making it your best."_ Royce was whispering over the comm unit to everyone in the Chaos Legion. _"Snipers should be able to put one of these down in two to three shots, so move on to a target that someone else is struggling against. Remember, these things are Biotic, and throw out some sort of pulsing Shockwave that works well against barriers and corners. Don't be afraid to move to the side to dodge it. Form what I understand, it packs one hell of a wallop."_ In a few seconds, everyone in the unit called out that they were ready, Vona picking out her target, indicating which one was hers on her OmniTool, forwarding it to the others so that two people weren't shooting at the same target. A quick glance at her wrist-mounted holographic tool showed that ten targets had been picked for the ten members of the Chaos Legion. The female sniper had her Krysae adjusted and ready, the scope's crosshairs leveled directly at the central head of the Scion. As always, she didn't see an enemy in her crosshairs, but her Brother, Saren Arterius; the one responsible for every bad think in her life for the past three and a half years. Her talon gently slid around the trigger of her Turian-made sniper rifle, and she heard Royce counting down from three to indicate to the rest to unleash hell against their opponents. Her mind was clear, her weapon ready, and Tech Specialist, First Class Vona Arterius last thought before the round she fired was of her son before she engaged the enemy.

_May the Spirits take you all!_ Vona thought as she felt recoil in her shoulder as she squeezed the trigger of her M44 Krysae the same time everyone else fired, watching as her Scion's central head disappeared into a shower of blood and gore as her hypervelocity round impacted the creature's cranium at a fraction of the speed of light. The thermal clip immediately popped out, smoking hot as she inserted a fresh one into her weapon with practiced ease, not even having to look at what she was doing, the motion all muscle memory. She sighted again and shot out the same spot she had been aiming before, where the mass of the bulky creature was now more exposed, assuming that it, like a Krogan's hump, contained important organs to keep the creature moving. The second shot occurred, burying itself in the first wound, and Vona could see that the shot had the Scion stumble back; her guess had been correct. Though the second shot had it falter for a brief second, the grotesque creature righted itself and took a shambling step forward as the female snipe loaded her third thermal clip into her sniper rifle, reading herself for her next shot. The third trigger squeeze was perfect, and the scope showed her that her third shot, much like her first and second, was what Humans called a 'bullseye'. The Scion fell backwards, the top-heavy creatures' many arms flailing in a desperate attempt to remain vertical as it hit the ground, out of the fight at the very least.

Vona looked over at Darg's target, which had its' hump practically blown apart by the M98 Widow's more powerful impact, the creature permanently down. She looked over to the Krogan Scout and gave him a small nod of her head; a show of respect for his prowess and abilities. Urdnot Darg returned the nod as both of them did a quick survey of the battlefield, finding other opportunities in the target-rich environment in which to best ply their trade. Vona spied a Scion that looked to be being peppered by a T24 Phaeston, the rounds barely holding it back as Captain Preitor Gavorn fired at it, and rolled away as his Scion let out a blast of Biotic energy that impacted against the pillar he had once being hiding behind. The stone pillar disappeared n a cloud of dust and debris, half of it having cracked and crumbled from the force of the Shockwave as Vona put a round through its' central skull, getting a certain sense of satisfaction as said skull disappeared into a splash of blood and bone fragments. It was then shot immediately after her own shot impacted it, the grotesque hump exploding into chunks and goo as a Widow round pierced through one end and out the other from Darg's lethal aim.

"Elias's target." The Turian sniper called out, seeing that of the ten Scions, only four were down; hers, Darg's, Preitor's, and Royce's. Vona knew with the both of them taking on the same creature, it would fall within a second or two from their high-end sniper rifles. In the blink of an eye, both Vona Arterius and Urdnot Darg put two fist-sized holes into the Scion that Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan had been peppering with his M92 Mantis, his sniper rifle not nearly powerful enough to pierce the creature's thick hide. With five of the creatures down, the rest fell easily as the Chaos Legion ganged up on the quickly-dwindling surviving Reaper forces. The last one died in a brilliant explosion of blue Biotic energy as all three Biotics threw Warps at the last shuffling creature, Vanguard Asha T'vara, Chief Petty Officer Stacy Valentino, and Eloa'Varis vas Thessia liquifying the last grotesque abomination into a puddle of goop and chunky bits upon the cracked and broken floor of the mezzanine.

"All clear, Lieutenant." Vona called out over the comm unit, scanning the rest of the room for anything that might have hid from them. "We shall be down in a moment."

"_Understood, Arterius."_ Royce replied. _"Damn fine shootin' from the both of you, by the way. I especially loved seein' their heads explode."_

"We aim to please." The female Turian sniper replied, thinking of where she heard that phrase first; from a man she once admired, and now despised. Dead for almost four years, and she was still picking up the pieces he made, cleaning up his messes. _Damn you, Saren,_ Vona thought, not for the first or last time_, damn you for everything that you've done. The whole galaxy is now suffering because of you, and I am left fighting for it. For whom will the bell toll today, and who will be left with the wreckage because of you? And who will be left behind, like me?_


	7. Chapter 6

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter 31 - Blood, Sweat, And Fears, Day 11 Midnight-ish

"Support Drone launched!"

Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan looked over to Engineer First Class Vian Torvan as the Turian Engineer sent a Drone to patrol the small assembly area that the Chaos Legion was currently inhabiting. It was once a room of some sort, and not a very big one at that, yet the ten of them made it as workable as possible with five different species could in a small space. The two Krogan, Jorgal Thrak and Urdnot Darg, took up as much spaces as any two of them, so were put on separate shift for guard and sleep to help conserve that space. Lieutenant Royce Mason had given them a call to stop, to let them eat and rest as night time had overcome Tuchanka. Thrak had told the N6 of the various predators that were nocturnal, and Royce had taken his word frankly; he hadn't wanted them facing both Reapers and some of the nightlife of Tuchanka at the same time. When Thrak and Darg began describing such things as _boghtahs_, varren, _tuumleks,_ and the infamous white apes, the Australian-born ma made the sound decision that movement at night was perhaps not the best idea for those who were unprepared for it. Though he said nothing himself, Elias was grateful that they weren't going to go traipsing through the dark corridors of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array at night.

"Support Drone launching now." Elias told his counterpart, sending it down the opposite corridor of where Vian's went. The Drones were simply a proximity warning system that were set to explode if something came within a few meters of them; a nasty surprise to something that might want to sneak up on them at night. There would be two guards per shift throughout the night, and the sniper appreciated that they would be down for eight hours; each shift would only last a little over an hour and a half, meaning that they would each get a decent amount of sleep in. He could definitely appreciate Royce's philosophy on fighting; he expected a lot out of them, but he paid back in kind when he could. Nobody objected to having a good night's sleep, especially when they had been up for over eighteen hours. Drones emplaced, Elias headed back to the room they had taken over and found his spot had been saved by Eloa'Varis nar Tombay vas Thessia. The Quarian spotted him coming in and motioned for him to come over as he laid down beside her.

"You know, I was recalling my time on Thessia, living among the Asari." The female Biotic told the Chief Tech Specialist as he pulled out a tube of food paste, clipping the end of it with his talons. "I… I lived in what the Asari called a _dormitory_; a kind of community home for students. They called it basic, but it was the finest place that I had ever lived." Eloa went silent for a moment, her voice synthesizer having been on a low setting so that her words were meant only for Elias. "If I had told myself a year ago I would be finding myself sleeping in the dirt and rocks of Tuchanka, in a crumbled building, I would have laughed right in my face. This place makes the Flotilla look good."

"I know what you mean." The sniper replied, after squirting some of his food in his mouth, offering some to the Quarian, who readily took it. "A year ago? I was serving on a Turian Destroyer, as a part of a push to 'dissuade' Batarian pirates and slavers in the Attican Traverse. Dropped into a few systems, raided a few pre-fab bases, got to run off a few Blinks and Slugs…" Elias went silent for a moment, thinking of those missions, which had ended when news of Earth's invasion came to the Hierarchy came. Thankfully, someone high up in Palaven Command had taken Commander Shepard seriously enough to believe in the Reapers, and the Turians had come prepared when the Reapers showed up in the Apien Crest. "As much as I despise pirates and slavers, I would take that over having the Reapers on all of our doorsteps every day of the week."

"I know what you mean. I… I worry about my people. And your people, too." The Biotic mused, her face mask obscuring her features, but not her tone. "I don't know if the Quarians are lucky or not, not to have the Homeworld to defend. We could just as easily scatter to the four solar winds, and drift for a hundred years. We could scavenge and scour for resources for quite some time, playing hide and seek. But… but that won't work, will it?"

"For the Krogan, the Human,s or even us Turians, it would." Elias admitted without shame. "But for the Reapers? We've all heard the rumors; they won't stop until every sentient being has been killed and taken. From what I've seen, I'm very inclined to believe it. Royce believes it, and I can see it in his eyes. Hard to believe he's been fighting Husks since he was a kid; practically the same age when I went to Basic Training. I look at him, and I know he's been preparing himself for this moment ever since Eden Prime. If the galaxy had a hundred more like him, I think that the Reapers would be quite worried."

"He is a good Captain, isn't he?" Eloa asked, her face plate moving into the direction of Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason. Though he had given himself the middle guard shift, he was still up, checking up on everyone in his own way; a look and a nod here, a few words of encouragement there, or in the case of the Krogan, friendly insults of manliness and toughness. Elias had served under half a dozen commanding officers, Turians who had proven themselves in the meritocracy, yet none had compared to the Human Marine. It was even harder to believe just how young he was as well; easily the youngest in the group. The Turian watched as the N6 finally made his way back to his reserved spot, guarded jealously by the Asari Vanguard Asha T'vara. It was pretty apparent to everyone that both the Human Marine and the Asari Vanguard were what Chief Petty Officer Stacy Valentino called an 'item', in Human terms. "Look at them. They're a regular Fleet and Flotilla, aren't they?"

"Dear Spirits, please do not tell me you watch that show?" Elias groaned, covering his eyes with his talons, doing a Turian facepalm.

"It's… it's a good show!" Eloa defended herself. "Unless you have some problem with Quarian and Turian relationships?"

"Quite the opposite, actually." The sniper let his mandibles flare out in a grin. "I had a barracks mate who would watch that show non-stop. That and Blasto." That had Eloa groaning in sympathy. "It's hard to like something when you hear it every… single… day, for three months straight."

"I stand corrected, then." Elias felt a tentative suited three-fingered hand slip in between his talons, holding onto it reassuringly. "I just can't believe that we're here, at the end of it all. I feel like I did when I was a child; stuck in my bubble, with no chance of escape in fear of all the threats and dangers the galaxy at large has. Of course, my biggest fear was infection…" The Turian watched as Eloa's free hand tugged at her suit, her only barrier from a hundred lethal diseases her body couldn't protect her from. "But now that the Reapers are here, I feel like a kid again; stuck and afraid."

"Not true, _palisha_." The Tech Specialist told her, the Quarian's face plate looking to him as he used the affectionate Turian term for _dear one_. "Now you can fight back, now you can conquer your fears. You're not like that young Quarian child bubble, afraid of the inside world. Now you're like that Quarian child who is getting their first suit, ready to face the world. How brave must one be to leave that bubble? I don't know, but I can admire that courage. I think every species has some sort of test, like when a Quarian comes out of its natal bubble, or their Pilgrimage, to prove themselves. The Krogan have their Rite of Passage. We have our beginning military service. The Asari have the difficult choice of either being a stripper, a dancer, a merc, or something else less horrible." That had Eloa'Varis giggle slightly, and that had Elias smile. "We all have that barrier, _palisha_, that chance to prove ourselves. You can live afraid, and be afraid to live, or your can conquer your fears, and find out who you really are. The blood, the sweat, and the fears just define us. Just look at Royce; he could have let Eden Prime conquer him. Instead of letting that moment rule him, he let it define him. He became a warrior because of it."

"I know that I am grateful, but knowing the cost…?" The Quarian's muted voice synthesizer dropped even lower so the Human Marine couldn't hear her. "I never lost a member of my family. He lost them all. I've seen something like that just… break people to where they're unfixable. He amazes me, sometimes. We all heard stories about the Humans, how they are so much like the Batarians, running roughshod over others. The Fleet thought about asking assistance from them, a few years back, but it happened to be right after the incident in Torfan. After hearing how that one Marine started executing so many surrendered prisoners…" Eloa went quiet, and the Turian sniper did indeed remember all about that incident, and the one they called the Butcher of Torfan. "We never did. We were too afraid to. I wonder what would have happened if we had. Would they have said 'yes'?"

"You would have had a better chance with the Human Systems Alliance than you ever would the Turian Hierarchy, that's for sure." Elias replied darkly, his subdual tone disgusted. "Two dextro species in the entire galaxy, and we're too selfish to share with the ones who lost everything. If I remember correctly, the best relations the Humans share with are the Elcor and the Hanar… because they were the first to put their foot forward to them, as oppose to lording over everyone; like we, the Asari, and the Salarians do. If you want to accuse the Humans of anything, accuse them of doing everything faster than the rest of us. The youngest damn species in the galaxy, and they're the ones leading the charge against the apocalypse. Just like Royce is for us." The Turian was thoughtfully quiet, and the Quarian didn't interrupt him.

"I remember fighting the Humans back on Shanxi, back during the Relay 314 War… I remember a prospector with a shotgun taking potshots at my platoon, too far to damage us. He led us on a merry chase into some trees where we finally caught up to him. He was hit bad, yet he was laughing at us. He had ended up merely being a diversion; while we were chasing one man with a scattergun, colonial militia was using that time to evacuate the citizens and set up defensive positions. He laughed at us because in the end, he knew he had won." That had the Turian snort. "That must have been their Reaper fight; strange new aliens popping out of the sky, advanced as hell and tough to kill, and yet the Humans never once backed down. Even when they surrendered, it was all just a means to buy them more time, to prepare for more fighting, to hold out for reinforcements. We're all trying to catch up, but if you look at the Humans and the Krogan, they've been ready for years."

A strange howling noise was heard off in the distance that silenced the talking in the room. Everyone looked at one another while Royce looked at Urdnot Darg and Jorgal Thrak.

"You guys have… monkeys here?" The N6 asked, curious. Elias wondered what a monkey was, save a derogatory term for Humans; they had descended from monkeys.

"It's just a Great White Ape." The Urdnot Scout replied in his rumbling voice, Thrak nodding in agreement. "Too large to fix into any of the doors here. Nothing to worry about."

"_Keelah…_ they're not worried because it's too big?" Eloa's voice went up an octave higher, her hand gripping Elias's tighter. "If a Krogan thinks it's big…"

"Just be grateful we have two Krogan." The Turian sniper mused with a chuckle as he held Eloa's hand. "We can always use one as a back-up plan."

A/N: A homage of Edgar Rice Burrough's _A Princess Of Mars_ with the mention of the White Ape. It's described differently, but that's where I got the idea.


	8. Chapter 7

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter 32 - Tell The Fat Lady She's On In Five, Day 12 Morning

Captain Preitor Gavorn and Jorgal Thrak led the way through the warren-like labyrinth of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array, the ex-Blue Suns member losing his patience with the whole underground affair. One would think that after living on Omega for as long as he had, he would be use to shitholes and nasty places, but the underground complex of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array was now the crowning winner in a long list of asshole places in the galaxy, in Preitor's opinion. The only light came from the ones mounted on their weapons or emanating from their OmniTools, and the tunnels looked as if they were ready to crumble and collapse at a moments' notice. Thankfully, they hadn't found any cave-ins, but the Turian ex-mercenary had long since given up trying to figure out where they were, how far they've gone, or how much longer they had to go.

What he hoped for was that he wouldn't die deep underground, like a _toko_.

The Turian Blue Suns Captain continued to move forward alongside the Krogan Blood Pack member, both of them working side-by-side as they took point for the Chaos Legion, their heavier assault rifles able to give most an urge towards caution. Thrak was currently holding his M76 Revenant Heavy Automatic Weapon, cradled like a child against his massive chest as his red, predatory eyes looked out in the darkness ahead of them, the illumination not enough to pierce the black very far. Preitor let the Krogan's senses be the guide; they had better eyesight, ears, and noses, why not take advantage of them? Being underground creeped Preitor out in a way he had never expected or experienced before. Perhaps he was a closet claustrophobic or had a fear of the dark). Now that he thought about it, he had never really been underground before, not even during his short stint with the Turian military, where he had served on ships. Still, it wasn't going to help him or anyone else to start fussing about it. He was just going to have to deal with it and move on.

"Path looks clear. Smells clear, too." Jorgal Thrak said, talking over the comm unit. The Chaos Legion had come up to a fork in the road, as Lieutenant Royce Mason had called it, where there had been three separate ways to go. Royce had wanted them all cleared of any nasty surprises, so Tech Specialist, First Class Vona Arterius and Urdnot Darg got the first path, Royce and Vanguard Asha T'vara got the second path, while Preitor and Thrak got the third. "Seems to come out the other side, too. Good thing, too; I hate doubling back."

"Me, too." Preitor found himself willing to agree with most anything if it gave him some relief from the dark, deep tunnels that seemed to press on him from every angle. He held his T24 Phaeston a little to tightly, and the light beam that came from the weapons light, jerked with his movements instead of swaying, indicating his stress level. If the Krogan Blood Pack mercenary noticed, then he said nothing about it, a fact in which the ex-Blue Suns was thankful for. Together, the two of them went through the tunnel and within a few moments, they found themselves in an open atrium, with an exposed ceiling that showed the boiling sky of Tuchanka. The sight of the tortured atmosphere had Preitor breathing in relief in his helmet, even if he couldn't smell it or taste it himself. The Atrium was quite large, and it took a few moments for the Turian to realize that there were no more tunnels to forage through, no more dark corridors to explore.

They had reached the Defense Array.

Preitor saw that Royce and Asha came from one opened portal several meters away, and Vona and Darg popped out further down the Atrium. The Turain ex-mercenary was impressed with he saw with the open-aired Atrium; random columns and archways made it impossible for a shuttle landing, and the tunnels they had just went through would make it murderous for any army to come through, with plenty of defensive positions to secure the Defense Array. Preitor now knew why the Turians were never able to conquer Tuchanka; a dangerous planet ruled by a dangerous people, who were just as defensive as they were aggressive. He tried to imagine one of his ancestors, landing on the planet with the mission to take on the Krogan, to find a lethal planet with many defensive structures being held by the aggressive species. No wonder the Turians and the Salarians dumped the Genophage on them; it was obviously the smarter choice.

"Spirits. The Krogan sure know how to make a hold-off point." Preitor muttered, Thrak obviously hearing the Turians' words as the Blood Pack member nodded his head in agreement. "No wonder the Reapers are pushing so hard. Huge cannons and no easy way to get into it. Anyone that holds this place isn't getting dug out by anything short of an actual army. Hopefully the Reapers aren't too settled in."

"I say bring them on." The Blood Pack merc growled at the Turian. "The sooner we can kick the Reapers off of Tuchanka, the better. If we can activate the ship-killer cannons, we can harbor ships and supplies, protecting them from even those Capital-Class ships short of a full invasion. We turn those on, Reapers are going to learn the meaning of fear."

"Hold on, I see movement." The Krogan said, his words echoing over the comm unit. The Turian had already been looking around, but with Thrak's warning, he redoubled his efforts. He could see that Royce, Asha, Vona, and Darg had done the same. Though none of them could see what the Jorgal mercenary had noticed, none of them were going to pass off on his warning.

"_Elias, Vian."_ Royce called out on the comm unit. _"Come on forward and get your drones ready for recon. This area is too large and cluttered for us to clear it effectively."_ Preitor looked out to the Atrium, seeing the many columns and supports that littered the open-aired room, making it difficult to see straight without hitting some sort of dead zone that would block one's view. The room was a perfect murder point; a small squad could hold it off against a much larger force for a good while, and with regular supplies and reinforcements, could make overtaking the Defense Array a nightmare. The Ex-Blue Suns member watched as two drone popped up into existence, speeding forward. The two grey drones zipped back and forth, surveying the Atrium, detailing not only the room's dimensions and locations of the objects in it, but also a bio-scan that would detect any forms of life. The drones took several minutes, going through the expansive Atrium, mapping out the complex for the members of the Chaos Legion, forwarding the information onto their OmniTools and into their HUD programs if they had one. Preitor glanced at the layout on his OmniTool, and let out the Turian version of a whistle; according the the growing blueprint of the complex, they were in the main Atrium of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array. He glanced up, having not realized that the eye ports of his helmet was denying him the sight of the ceiling; they were directly underneath the great cannons that were the main defense of Tuchanka. The Turian looked up to see the five half-kilometer long ship-killer cannons that could bring down any ship in the sky. A hail to an age of ancient technology, the ship-killers weren't Mass Effect weapons, but old propellant technology that accelerated large metal slugs to hypervelocities. The beauty of it was that the nuclear-powered, magnetically-accelerated shells went too _slow_; the barriers of a ship weren't calibrated for anything less than 0.75% the speed of light, in which the artillery shells went at 0.5%.

In other words, a ship would be finding itself being bombarded with big, fat, slow, dumb, deadly shells.

"A man in charge of those things must feel like a God when he pushes the button." Captain Preitor Gavorn said as he marveled at the giant cannons, and then looking over to Jorgal Thrak. "Makes me really wish to push that button."

"Finally; a Turian with sense." The Blood Pack Krogan said with a wicked smile and a nod of his head. "Each cannon fires four times a minute, autoloading its shells off a mechanical system with no VI interface to hack or interrupt; a completely computer-free system ran off of fuses and steel. When all five are firing at maximum capacity, it is as if the planet has a chaingun firing, almost like Royce." Thrak looked up, his uncovered face peering at the five cannons that reached up into the sky. "It must be a beautiful thing to see them activated. It was designed to destroy fleets as soon as they arrived through the Relay, blowing them up before they came in. No communication fast enough to warn, ships hitting debris as round hit their ship before they have a chance to react. As I said… beautiful." The Krogan seemed particularly misty-eyed at the thought, and Preitor thought it wiser to merely keep his mouth civil. It was never well to antagonize a Krogan who was thinking about guns and killing things.

Then the Turian's OmniTool began to ping with red dots; lifeforms found.

"Spirits…" The former Blue Suns merc said as he looked on his OmniTool, pulling up the layout of the structure, as well as the lifeforms being detected by the recon drones sent by Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan and Engineer First Class Vian Torvan. The red dots indicating the lifeforms were rapidly populating the map that he had up, seeing them pop up by the dozens, maybe even as many as a hundred or more. They were scattered throughout the complex, some in groups, others by themselves. Preitor's mandibles moved into a grimace; way too spread out for the Enigma signal to be used effectively. Obviously, Royce had the same thought as instructions started to come in through the comm unit. The Human Marine explained where he wanted people, and what they were to do. The Turian soldier received his instructions, and he nodded to Thrak, who had received his own. They split apart, and Preitor found the spot that Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason had selected for him; a barricaded position that would protect him from a wide arc of fire. The former merc readied his T24 Phaeston and his M23 Katana, slipping the shotgun in front of him onto a barrier for easy access, and then he placed his M29 Incisor against the barrier. A quick check of his spare thermal clips and his grenades showed him that he was ready for a fight. The heavy assault rifle ready in his hands, the Turian watched as the rest of the Chaos Legion set up in an extended line, spacing out each member to provide effective fields of fire without bunching up the personnel to where a single attack may result in the injury of several members at once. Of course, the biggest concern was several aggressors attacking just one person, swamping them with more than one member could handle. Against such a scenario such as a large area cluttered with dead space, with so many enemies, it was the most effective plan, especially when they had no hope of air support or reinforcements.

"_Okay, everyone."_ Royce came up on the comm, pulling everyone's attention to what the N6 had to say. _"You've all seen the survey map from the recon drones; this place is thick and nasty, and the Reapers are here. We're diggin' in and bringin' them to us. Elias, Vian, ready drones with the Enigma signal . Everyone else, ready your guns and your Biotics for a serious fight, and someone go tell the fat lady that she's on in five."_

"Good, 'bout time we had something to kill!" Thrak said to Preitor, speaking over the distance in a way just short of a yell. "All this sneaking just pisses me off! Give me a good slug out any day!"

"The Spirits were listening, Thrak; you're about to be shooting your wish come true!" The Turian said as he pulled out his thermal clip, inspected it, and slapped it back in, seeing that it was fully ready. "Let's fix the Reaper overpopulation issue!"

A/N: Yes, I quoted Jim Carrey from 'Batman Forever'. Even lame movies have shiny moments.


	9. Chapter 8

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter 33 - Sharing Is Caring, Day 12 Morning-ish

A/N: I wrote this while listening to 'Leaving Earth' from the ME3 soundtrack. I suggest YouTube'ing it, as it is a great piece. WARNING! In war, no one gets away unscathed.

Eloa'Varis nar Tombay vas Thessia gripped her M44 Kimber in both her hands, feeling the recoil as she put a two-round burst into a Husk's head, giving her the disgusting satisfaction of watching its head burst open like a stepped-on food tube. The Quarian put the next two shot into its' running partner, the rounds impacting its chest, causing it to stumble, yet it still moved forward. The next burst took it in the chest, making the Husk fall to the ground in a splat, its limbs splayed out as it was treadded over by a Marauder desperately trying to shoot the Biotic. Taking her left three-finger gloved hand, Eloa felt the familiar static tingle of Biotic energy tickle her skin as she charged up a Throw, blasting the Marauder with an orb of dark energy. The mutated Turian was struck by the orb, being flung back with immense force, smacking into a nearby pillar. The Kimber spoke several more times, the Quarian female trying to put down the Husks as quickly as she could as they rushed her, Marauders and Cannibals forcing her to duck and weave as they fired at her. Eloa grunted as a burst from an assault rifle pinged of her light Hydra armor's shields, causing her to be knocked back a foot. The Quarian yelped in shock as she pushed herself back to her waist-high barrier in hopes that its protection would better defend her.

The battle had been going on for only a few minutes, and yet it wasn't going well.

Engineer First Class Vian Torvas launched another sentry turret in between their position, the Turian Engineer proving his mettle once again as the OmniGel-created turret winded up, its minature machine gun spitting out small particles of metal at a fraction of the speed of light towards where the Reapers were thickest. Eloa would have flashed him a smile if her grey visor didn't block out most of her features. A head nod had to suffice as she put down another Husk with a two-round burst, clipping the top of its head off. She spied something in the thinning throng of Human-mutated Reapers that had her violet blood run cold.

"Elias! Abominations!" The Quarian shouted, her voice synthesizer giving credence to her worry as she saw a reddish Husk approaching the Turian sniper's position beside her. Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan answered the worry with his usual reply; a M92 Mantis round to the head. The Abomination was of sterner stuff than its bluer kin, and Eloa'Varis finished it off with a Warp, watching as the explosive figure shredded with molecular-destabilizing Biotic energy. The red Husk exploded upon its death, throwing a few Husks to the ground, and catching a Cannibal on fire. The appearance of Abominations had taught the members of the Chaos Legion a very important lesson; red things explode, so shoot them from far. The burning Cannibal caught a two-round burst to its chest, courtesy of Eloa's Kimber as the Biotic ejected her spent thermal clip, the spent, smoking cylinder popping out of the sub-machine gun's chamber as her three-finger hand slapped in a fresh one with practiced ease; she had become quite proficient on Menae. As soon as the clip was in, Eloa fired off a Singularity off at a cluster of Husks, watching as three of them were caught in the swirling void of dark energy. She finished them off with a quick Throw, the collision of two forms of dark energy energetically meeting with one another in an explosive display of power. The Husks were torn apart, and a nearby Marauder was tossed out by the explosion, impaled on a jutting rock of the Atrium.

"More are comin'!" Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason called out from his position as his large chaingun activated once more, the Human Marine sweeping through the most likely of avenues of approach as Husks, Marauders, and Cannibals rushed forward in a blitz, the chaingun mowing the Reapers down almost as fast as they came. Eloa had to admit to herself, the N6 Marine was Death Incarnate himself, like a walking weapon of mass destruction. If only a small percentage of Humans were as good as Royce, it was a wonder that Humanity hadn't conquered the galaxy in the close to thirty solar years since they had arrived into space at large. Not that the Quarian wasn't grateful for the Australian-born man's skill and expertise; being on the same side, the female born on the Tombay was quite appreciative of his prowess now that he was the Captain of their little group. Her Kimber spoke again and again as she shot at incoming Reapers, using her Biotics sporadically to keep herself from becoming too exhausted as more Human, Turian, and Batarian-hybrid monsters weaved through the columns and bounded over the barriers of the Atruim, pouring towards the Chaos Legion. A good-sized group had the Quarian pull out her M81 Raikou in her left hand as she began to blast at the eight-strong group of Reapers with her sub-machine gun in one hand, and her pistol in the other. Not for the first time, the Tombay-born Quarian had wished that she had some better weapons; if she was going to wish that, they she might as well chip in for the training and experience of a Fleet Marine, too. Two of her Cannibals fell quickly as Eloa ducked for a second when a Marauder fired a burst of assault rifle fire at her, the Quarian popping back up and putting three rounds from her Raikou into the Turian-hybrids' skull, imploding it.

"_Vash'da!_" Eloa'Varis swore as she felt another impact, this time on her left shoulder, almost throwing her to the ground. The gunshot, thankfully deflected by her suit's shields, had her whole left arm feeling tingly and numb, and she realized that she dropped her pistol. What surprise her more was the sight of a Husk jumping on top of her barrier, its mutated face screaming at her as it lunged right at her. The suited female Quarian let off a shriek as she pushed her Kimber at the Husk as it collided with her, the two-round burst hitting it somewhere in the ribcage as the Reaper tackled her to the debris-strewn ground. Eloa felt the wind get knocked out of her as the Husk landed on top of her, cybernetically-enhanded hands raising up in fists as the Biotic Quarian gasped for breath. Both fists came down hard, striking at the helmet's face plate, bouncing off as Eloa's head smacked into the ground, causing her to see stars. Gasping for breath and her vision swimming, the Quarian lifted her numb left arm, placing her three-fingered hand on the Husk's chest, and hit it with a pulse of dark energy, blasting the Reaper off of her with a Shockwave. Weakly gripping her Kimber, Eloa'Varis rolled over from her back and lifted herself off the ground, her head still ringing as the Quarian got onto shaky legs, turning back to the battle as she opened her eyes and gasped out loud.

Her visor was cracked, and a piece of it was broken off.

"**E-E-E-Elias!**" Eloa'Varis vas Thessia shrieked, looking over to the Turian, who was in the next position to the right. Her Kimber went up to some movement that she could barely see through the smashed visor, unable to tell what it was, or even if she was aiming at it. She took a chance, and fired at the figure she saw, the splinters of her visor making it impossible to tell what it was, who it was, or even if she were facing the right direction. She fired off three more two-round bursts as she felt something smash against the side of her head. Her head was knocked to the other side as the Quarian fell to the ground, her head spinning violently as Eloa felt the need to retch. "Elias… help me…" The Quarian whimpered as she tried to point her sub-machine gun in the direction of her attacker, the Kimber feeling as if it had severely increased in weight. "Ancestors…" Eloa pleaded weakly, trying to get up with her weakened left arm, so dizzy she couldn't even tell where she was facing. Something loomed right in front of her, and she tried to activate her Biotics, only to make her pounding head increase in pain, almost making her black out from the pain.

Eloa'Varis thought she was going to die.

"Spirits! Eloa!" The figure in front of her stated, and Eloa sobbed in relief at the sound of the sub-dual tone of Elias Korvan's voice. "Your mask is broken!"

"I can tell, you Turian _bosh'tet_." The Quarian replied weakly, a little huff of a laugh following. She felt herself being gently picked up on her feet by the Turian sniper. "I… I might be in trouble, Elias. My suit has been compromised, and…" Eloa didn't want to say it, to admit that it might be true. "It's only a matter of time before I become infected with something, and we're nowhere near any type of medical facility. I…" The Quarian bowed her head, and forced what she had to say out. "I'm going to die, Elias!" She did her best to hold back her tears, her right hand going to Elias, feeling his three-taloned hand holding her own hand as she wished she could see his face, the splintered visor making it impossible for her to see.

"Not if I can help it!" The Turian growled. "Eloa? Hold your breath and close your eyes; I have a crazy Spirits-be-damned idea that just might work!" Eloa'Varis didn't know what the Turian had in mind, but she had no other choice. Nodding her head, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and felt her face mask being removed, and then her the rest of her helmet on her head being removed. Eloa could feel Tuchankan air hitting her exposed face, and she could feel her whole body quaking in fear. She hadn't been exposed to any environment outside of a clean room… ever. The feeling of outside air upon her skin surprised her, though in a good way she couldn't say. In a few seconds, she felt another helmet slipping over her head, a strange fit. "Okay, Eloa? I need to you to purge and seal your helmet so that it fits properly." The Quarian, her eyes still closed and her breath still held, activated her OmniTool, and pressed the command that Elias suggested, feeling all the air leaving from inside the helmet, forming the seal for the helmet and the rest of her suit. Her suit's VI then released her purified air into the helmet, and she took a tentative breath, recognizing the stale air that was filtered air that her suit purified from the outside air.

Eloa'Varis vas Thessia opened her silvery eyes to two strange viewports that were immediately in front of her eyes, and nothing else.

"I… Elias…" The Quarian found herself moving her head, finding it a little unusual to having to look around with her whole head to see things, as oppose to just her eyes. "Is this… your helmet?"

"Yes, it is." The Turian's mandibles twitched a little bit, and the Quarian briefly wondered what that meant.

"I… I…" Eloa'Varis felt speechless at the revelation as she looked at the Turian through the viewports of his helmet on her head. The hemet wasn't that great of a fit, considering that it was made for someone with mandibles and a fringed head. Still, a too-large helmet was better than her risking being contaminated. Her suit's VI linked with the helmet well, and the seal matched up with her neckpiece. Elias had something in his talons, and Eloa saw that it was her _sha'hana_; her mother's headscarf. The Turian gingerly placed it on the top of her head, draping it over where the crest of his helmet was, connecting it to the posts that were beside her collarbone. His talons were gentle as he snapped the disks into place, holding her _sha'hana_ into place. Eloa gently placed both of her hands onto his, gripping them softly. "Thank you, Elias." The Biotic female said weakly, her eyes looking into his. "I might still get sick, but… you definitely have saved my life. I…" She wanted to say more, _do you even know what this means?_ was the one thought that screamed in her mind, yet Eloa held it back, thinking it to be not the best time. "What are you going to do if we have to step outside, Elias? Won't you need your helmet?"

"I could say how tough Turians are, but I happen to have a spare breather unit and a visor that can protect my eyes from the environment; that's really all I need for Tuchanka." The sniper replied, his flanged voice soft, caring. Eloa felt a little lost in his brown eyes, studying his features; the chocolate-brown coloring of the metallic plates of his face, and the softer brown of his unprotected skin, She looked to the white face paint markings that decorated his face, a source of a Turains' pride; an acknowledgement of their location of birth and their clan family. Eloa tentatively put her forefinger on one of the white lines, gingerly tracing it with the tip of her suited finger. She felt her breath somewhat hitching in her throat when one of his talon's came up and caressed the side of her helmet where she could see the action. "A regular Fleet and Flotilla, huh?"

"I can live with that." Eloa said, their hands slipping into one anothers' . "If we have a quiet moment, we'll need to talk about something… important."

"Is it…" The Turian struggled with something, a memory of some type. "Oh, what did Shalei call it in the Fleet and Flotilla movie? Swapping suits? Linking suits?" Elias clicked his talons together as he obviously remembered what it was he was getting at. _"Sharing_ suits! That was it!" The Turian sniper then seemed to realize what he had just said, and what it had meant. "Oh, Spirits! Doesn't that mean that… Quarians can only link with one person in their entire life, can't they?" To that, Eloa slowly nodded her head. "My helmet has all my germs and stuff like that, which you're breathing in?" Again, the Quarian nodded her head, feeling her heart slowly sink. "That makes you and I… bondmates, right?"

"Yes…" Eloa'Varis replied, her voice thick, feeling almost like she was going to cry. She liked Elias, she really did, but sharing or linking a suit was something that one did when they knew that they wanted to be with no other. It wasn't a decision to made lightly, for as Elias said, due to the Quarians' weakened immune system, they could only link with one person; any other would be lethal to themselves and the other. It was more intimate than any other species' version of a union, for if a Quarian mate died, the survivor would be a widow for the rest of their life. Being linked with a Turian? She never really heard of it before save… well, save for the Fleet and Flotilla movie, which was fake. "I'm sorry, Elias. I shouldn't have said anything." She went to turn to walk away, but she felt a gentle taloned hand upon her shoulder, keeping her. She found herself looking at his brown eyes as he looked at her with… caring.

"I know our species and cultures are different, so I know you probably never heard of 'unintentional conception'." The Turian explained softly. Eloa shook her head, having never heard of it. "We Turians… well, our females come into heat during certain times, and that is when we mate. Normally, it is nothing more than casual sex, as to get with child, you must do it at a specific time. Still, sometimes, a child is conceived by accident. If the Turians in question have an unintentional conception, it is expected of them to become bondmates for the sake of the child. If the male were to walk away from that…" Elias shook his head. "It is a stigma that no Turian wants. If what I have done would prevent you from mating from anyone else, then it would be much the same thing, Eloa. If I walked away from this, I would never be able to hold my head up among my kind, and rightly so. What I'm saying is… Eloa'Varis nar Tombay vas Thessia, would you like to be my bondmate? Even given these unusual circumstances?"

"I… I would." The Quarian replied, placing her head on the Turian's chest, appreciating his height as she buried her helmeted face into his armor. "Thank you for having me, Elias Korvan." She pulled her head away, feeling his talons cupping her head as he looked into the viewports where he could look into her silvery eyes. "I'm sorry that it happened this way, Elias. Because of me, you will not be able to mate with any of your own kind."

"_Palisha…_" The sniper said softly, taking her three-fingered hand and placing it on his armor, where underneath laid his heart. "I… care for you already. Ever since your grabbed my hand before the jump off the shuttle on Menae, you've been in my thoughts." Eloa saw that the Turian's mandibles spread open in a slow smile. "I don't know why you did it, but no female has ever done that with me before… held onto me for strength, I mean."

"I grabbed your hand because I was frightened out of my mind!" The Quarian Biotic admitted, giving off a nervous laughter. "But… the feel of your hand did comfort me when I needed it. Like you are now. _Keelah_… I'm so nervous right now, but… I shouldn't be afraid to admit that when I need someone there, I find myself turning to you, and you haven't let me down once, Elias."

"And I never will, _Palisha_." The Turian dipped his head forward, placing his plated forehead upon her helmeted own. "This will prove interesting for the both of us, but we'll do it together."

"They're adorable together, ain't they?" Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason said to Vanguard Asha T'vara, the Human and Asari standing but a few feet away. The Asari was standing right next to the Marine with a cocky smile upon her face, while the N6 stood in a cocky manner himself. Eloa felt her cheeks heat up as both Quarian and Turian took a tentative step back, both obviously embarrassed by being discovered. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you guys, but after watchin' Elias buttstroke a Husk to death, I was too impressed not to look away."

"You beat a Husk to death for me?" Eloa asked the sniper, who held his head in a way that suggested that he was a little embarrassed by the fact. "That's… well… that was very sweet of you, Elias. You know how to make a girl feel special." That had the Turian lift his head up a little more, obviously feeling a little more proud by the fact.

"Now if you children could please put your minds back on the fact that we're still somewhat surrounded by Reaper forces…" Asha said good-naturedly, giving Eloa a reassuring smile. "Perhaps seeing a Quarian with a Turian helmet on might scare them off!" That had the Human laughing, and though no one could see it, Eloa smiled.

A/N: Boy was this a long chapter; my longest yet.


	10. Chapter 9

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter 34 - Mutually-Assured Destruction, Day 12 Late Evening

_A/N: Royce cried; he wanted it to be his turn._

Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason grunted off a sigh of exhaustion as he took a seat on an impromptu chair that just happened to be a flat rock at the more-or-less perfect height to be used as a chair, feeling the fatigue and stress of the day getting to him. Clearing the Atrium had been hard as hell, and the Australian-born man and his Chaos Legion had been put through their paces taking out every single Reaper that had been holding off the interior complex of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array. Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan and Engineer First Class Vian Torvas had seen multiple drones to recon the area for any possible lurkers and strays that might have been in the Atrium, while Tech Specialist, First Class Vona Arterius and the Krogan Scout, Urdnot Darg, had kept a vigilant watch at the top of the ramp leading up to the main complex building of the Defense Array.

It had taken them almost twelve hours, but they had done it; they had taken over the Ship-Killer Complex.

Royce took off his helmet, having worn it for… 28 hours? Ever since they left the _Tomkahs_ the previous day. The sweat from his face and in his head made it slick and smelly, and the inside of his helmet smelled like a wet, sweaty gym sock. Sitting down, the N6 felt the fatigue seeping into his bones and muscles, the prolonged fighting having taken its toll both on himself and the members of the Chaos Legion. The worst had been the Quarian Biotic, Eloa'Varis nar Tombay vas Thessia, whom had her face plate broken from a Husk that had tried to use her head like a punching bag. Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan had saved the day, and her life, by putting his helmet on her head. The rest of them had received minor wounds, nothing that some MediGel couldn't cure. Yet food, water, and sleep were needed by all, and rightfully so. You could make person go only so far until exhaustion took its toll, no matter how tough or good they were.

The Australian-born man heard a pair of footsteps coming up behind him softly, and a small turn of his head showed him that the Asari Vanguard, Asha T'vara, was approaching him. The sight of her made him smiled, which he shared with her. The blue-skinned woman returned the smile warmly as she took up residence beside him, sitting on the same flat rock, giving off a sigh of appreciation as she did so.

"Goddess, who knew it would feel so good just to sit down on an uncomfortable rock?" The Asari quipped, eliciting a gentle chuckle from the Human Marine. "Vian said he was able to establish communications with the Krenjin Outpost, and we are in contact with Urdnot Wreve. He'll be sending support to hold this position, as well as somebody who knows to activate this complex." Asha tossed her back to the _Shaigur_ Defense Array, in which they held the control room at the top of the complex. Elias and Engineer First Class Vian Torvas had looked at the many panels, levers, knobs, and buttons that would activate the great machine that would activate and run the five massive artillery pieces, and had no idea how it worked. Who would have guessed that the Krogan would make something so dumb that no one could figure it out? Royce chuckled at the thought, thinking of some of the old vids of World War II Navy ships, which had used much of the same principal to perform artillery strikes. He had been surprised to see fuses and mercury switches as the most technological device used. Of course, it could have been that the Krogan had only been that advanced over fourteen hundred years ago, but then how had they been able the threaten the Galaxy during the Rebellions then? Royce suspected that the reason that the _Shaigur_ Defense Array was built this primitive because it would deny Turians and Salarians access to it. It wasn't a bad plan.

"Well, we'll have everyone bunker down and get some sleep." The Human Marine said, looking over the the Asari, who was giving him a nod of his head. "This place is ran off a nuclear reactor, which might take a few days to spin up to optimal capacity. Once we get it runnin', I don't doubt that the Reapers will come for this place to evict us all. Thankfully, there's only one entrance… and we're looking at it. Say what you want about the Krogan, but they know how to make a defensive position. We've got the high ground, as well as cover and protection. The Reapers come," the N6 indicated the winding ramp that they had to use to get into the Defense Array's Control Room, "and they'll be under fire the whole time without any cover or anywhere to run. Turn this sucker into a carpet of corpses of those who tried and failed."

"When can we expect reinforcements, or at least Greve's forces?" The Asari asked.

"Greve should be here tonight, he messaged me that they'll be movin' under the cover of nightfall; somethin' about using the native wildlife as a distraction." Royce shrugged his shoulders, feeling the knots bunched up in his muscles. "Reinforcements will come tomorrow mornin', and they'll either be holdin' off in a stand-off perimeter, or they'll come here to relieve us. I don't suspect that it'll be that easy. Nothin' ever is when it comes to the Reaper."

With the guard rotation and sleep plan in place, Royce stood in front of the large console that controlled the _Shaigur_ Defense Array, looking at the many levers, buttons, screens, and dials on a physical platform. There was no haptic interface to use, no holographic console to bring up, and no data port to insert an OSD. Everything on the panel was analog; unhackable. It isn't too long ago that Humanity was using something like this to win wars, yet he had no idea how to work it at all. The Krogan were smart; facing an advanced race, they invented something that would stump a technologically-advanced foe. Despite the galaxy's view on the Son of Tuchanka, the Krogan weren't stupid, only desperate. That desperation might give them the edge they need now that the Reapers had come.

Night came in full swing and Royce stood at the entrance of the Defense Array with three other members of the Chaos Legion. Jorgal Thrak, Engineer First Class Vian Torvas, and Cpatian Preitor Gavorn had the first shift, the Krogan armed with the Human Marine's M320 Vulcan Cannon, the merc obviously enjoying the feel of the chain gun in hand. Preitor had Thrak's M76 Revenant in hand, with his T24 Phaeston set up in front of him on a waist-high concrete barrier, while Vian had a sentry turret program running, scanning the main approach while the Engineer took shelter behind a good bunker point, armed with a M12 Locust. Royce himself had his M96 Mattock extended in on hand, rest the butt of the weapon on one hip, the barrel in the air, while he looked out in the gloom of the Atrium. He was waiting for Urdnot Greve to arrive with his company of Krogan, but they were running late. According to the Krogan mercenary, his species wasn't known for their timeliness, and Tuchanka was not known to favor good luck. The N6 didn't like the fact that Greve was late, especially since the Battlemaster was the one with the personnel that could start the Ship-Killer cannons. If something happened to them… he wasn't sure what he would do, but Royce knew that without the Defense Array, the Krogan DMZ would soon fall to the Reapers, just like the Sol system and the Apien Crest.

"Relax, Human." The Krogan mercenary said to Royce, one of his eyes looking over to the Human Marine. "Urdnot Greve is a Battlemaster; centuries of experience fighting. If Greve says he'll be here with the necessary people, he'll be here if he has to drag their broken bodies."

"That doesn't feel very reassurin'." The N6 said, shaking his head with a rueful smile. The Krogan 'harumphed' as he looked out to the empty Atrium, the chain gun in the Krogan's hands pointed to the most likely avenue of approach. Royce looked out as well, seeing nothing in the gloom of the empty old cluttered plaza. He turned on the Thermal Scope on his Mattock, looking out to the depths of the Atrium, slowly scanning the several paths that existed to reach the enormous plaza, filled with its columns, barriers, and many other illusionary ways to slow an army down. Nothing showed up on the Thermal Scope, no heat signatures popping up into view, and so Royce let the Mattock hang low, crossing diagonally across his chest as he looked over to the Turian Engineer, Vian Torvas. Vian seemed to know Royce's unasked question, pulling up one of two OmniTools, and the Turian checked for any sign of movement on the proximity motion sensors that he had seeded throughout the Atrium, to better alert whoever was on watch. The Turian looked up from his OmniTool and shook his head, telling Royce once more that there was no sign of either the Krogan detachment, or any Reapers.

"Pity this place was designed to interrupt local radio signals." Captain Preitor Gavorn sighed, adjusting Thrak's Revenant in his three-fingered hands. "Could have solved this problem with a simple short-wave burst transmission but nnnoooooo…" The Turian drew out the word with a smile and a glance to the Krogan that stood watch with him, "the Krogan just had to build a last stand position where there are no hopes of calling for reinforcements."

"We built it just for you, you Turian _dosh'qua_." Jorgal Thrak replied with a chuckle, making the Turian chuckle as well. "We didn't know just how advanced the Turians or the Salarians were when the Rebellions began, so we made things as… primitive as possible. We didn't want you stealing our technology or using it against us. Now we've forgotten how to make such things, having to rely on your weapons and to fight your wars."

"We did the same thing, back durin' the First Contact War." Lieutenant Royce Mason said, thinking about the stories he had heard from the veterans of the War that was only 29 years before. "We had no idea what we were fightin' or what the aliens were capable of, so we sent in ships and weapons that we were fairly certain that the Turians wouldn't be too impressed with. Of course, that was before we even knew what a Turian was." The Human Marine's statement was answered with silence as the four of them held the watch over the Atrium. "We had a Project back then that was cuttin'-edge technology, that would help the aveage soldier continue fightin' against the Turians as we held them off. We found ourselves goin' up against drednaughts when we barely had ships that were ranked as Destroyers. The Project was to help heal the wounded, to get them to fight longer, and to get them back in the fight. Back then, it was known as 'Miracle Medical Amnigel'."

"Sounds nice." Engineer Vian Torvas replied simply.

"Yeah, it was." Royce chuckled. "The guy who made it is named Phillip Sirta, Doctor of Medicine and Research. You now know it as 'MediGel', and Doctor Sirta created the Sirta Foundation. Guy's made billions off of your wars… and he gives MediGel to the Alliance military at a 75% discount rate."

"Ha! I like him!" Thrak said in a jovial tone. "Gets richs off his enemies, and ensures his friends will survive. He'd make a good Krogan." The Blood Pack mercenary nodded his head. "My fathers' Rite of Passage was on Suen, fighting off the Rachni. He told me of how some of the most revered Krogan were their scientists; Krogan who fought with their brains, who could make dozens of warriors stronger by making better weapons, armor, and tools. A Krogan who was an inventor or a creator was cherished for his gifts. Those days have sadly passed." The mercenary shook his head, looking over to Royce. "I envy you, Human. When we fought the Turians, we were driven back and given no mercy. When you fought the Turians, you at least had the Asari to intervene. No one intervened on our behalf. And it was our fault."

"We intervened, Thrak." The Human Marine spoke quietly, though he didn't doubt that both Turians could hear him. "A Human was responsible for gettin' the Genophage cured. Your people can overrun us with a million brats before the year is out. In ten years' time, you could be havin' lots of construction workers rebuildin' your planet. That's what the Krogan need; a worthy goal, not a worthy fight."

"You… may have something there, Human." Thrak replied with a slow nod of his his massive head. "We didn't have great warriors back then like we do now, because we couldn't afford to fight that way anymore. My people are almost extinct, but now we have hope. What will we do with it?"

"M.A.D." Royce replied, looking to Thrak, who gave the N6 a quizzical look. "Stands for 'Mutually-Assured Destruction'. When two powerful groups make somethin' so terrible together to keep the other from destoryin' each other, it's called a Cold War. That's what started the Krogan Rebellion; you had people, and the Asari and Salarians couldn't compete and they knew it. Now you just need to find somethin' to do with all those kids, otherwise you're not going to have much of a choice. Start by rebuilding Tuchanka. Praise artists and engineers. Sponsor inventors and poets. Encourage charity and humility. Instead of tellin' a Krogan kid that he must be the best warrior, tell him he can be the best at whatever it is he wants to be. And come up with a professional sport to get them from killin' one another. Like Varren Rodeo or Thresher Maw Ridin'."

"Got movement in sector two." Engineer First Class Vian Torvas called out, looking at his OmniTool, pressing a few buttons on the Haptic Interface Unit. "Fifteen strong, humanoid… pulses and organic. Looks like Krogan."

" 'Bout time."

A/N: Sadly, I think this was one of my weaker efforts. Spent a week rewriting this, and sadly this was the best I could do with a bridge. I swear I'll make it up in the next chapter. You know, guns, explosions, violence; that kind of stuff we all know we love and enjoy.


	11. Chapter 10

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter 35 - Death In The Form Of A Button, Day 13 Tuchanka Dawn

A/N: Inspired by Jack Wall's 'The Long Walk' from the Mass Effect 2: Combat soundtrack.

"Shit, did you guys multiply while I was asleep?" Chief Petty Officer Stacy Valentino groaned as she rolled over and opened her eyes, seeing fifteen more Krogan scattered in the opened-air Control Room. "What have Thrak and Darg been doing while I was sleeping? I didn't think I needed to check the plumbing to make sure that they were both boys." That had Captain Preitor Gavorn and Tech Specialist, First Class Vona Arterius laughing as Jorgal Thrak grumbled at the comment. Stacy grumbled herself as she got out of her makeshift bed, some debris she had found that looked to be softer than rocks. Thankfully, the Control Room hosted an atmospheric barrier, and everyone was able to take off their helmets save for Eloa'Varis nar Tombay vas Thessia, who was still wearing Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan's Turian-shaped helmet. The Human Sentinel thought the Quarian looked a bit goofy with a helmet that wasn't made for her head, but the Texan knew better than to say anything; if it meant her life, Stacy would wear a Krogan's helmet if she had to. The Human Biotic stretched out some, feeling her muscles and joints popping as she did so. "Damn it, I'm getting too old for this shit."

"You're telling me, Human." Thrak replied, getting up himself. "I woke up, and I remembered that I'm 635. Longer than your species has been shooting at each other." The Krogan smirked at his own comment.

"You got me beat there, big guy." The Sentinel admitted readily enough, rotating her head about, feeling her neck pop several times. She didn't really want to admit it, but at 34 years of age, she had been thinking of getting out. A decade and a half of service had taking its toll, and she wasn't sure that she would physically make that last five years to earn herself a decent retirement on a decent colony somewhere in Outer Citadel Space. The coming of the Geth and the subsequent Battle of the Citadel had taken out the last of the fire out of her after being shot several times trying to clear the Wards and the Presidium, especially since half of her unit had been killed during the fight against Sovereign and the Geth Armada. Stacy only had a few months left on her contract, yet now with the coming of the Reapers, any thought of ending her term of service went out the window. She would never admit it, but she didn't realistically expect herself to survive what seemed to be the End of Days. The Sentinel still wasn't sure how she survived the escape from Arcturus, but luck never lasted.

Chief Valentino moved over to where Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason stood at what she considered the main console of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array. She had looked at it earlier, seeing an old computer console that looked more at home on an old Earth naval battleship, with buttons, switches, toggles, and fuses. Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan stood next to the N6, as well as a Krogan that took her a minute to recognize as Battlemaster Urdnot Greve. The Human and Turian were looking at the large mechanical console, expecting for the Krogan to start flipping switches and dials to turn it on.

"Watch this." The old Battlemaster said with a very Krogan smile, reaching underneath the console, pulling up the entire panel, revealing one simple red button.

"T-that's it!?" Elias exclaimed, the Turian sniper's eyes going wide as he looked at the red button displayed in front of the them. "One simple button?"

"That's it." The Battlemaster replied, chuckling. "We figured that anyone advanced would see this and try figuring it out. None of it works save to fool some Salarian operator into thinking it was useful. Press this button here, and the system will turn on, fully automated."

"Death in the form of a button. I like it." Royce replied, looking over to Stacy with a smile. "Here I was afraid we were gonna have to start pullin' fuses and playin' with toggles. Let me be the first to compliment Krogan ingenuity. Battlemaster? The honor's all yours."

"Gladly." The old Krogan stabbed the button with a stubby forefinger, setting off a series of klaxon alarms as panels began to power on. "The nuclear reactor has been turned online, Human. It will take some time for it to reach optimum capacity before the Defense Array is fully activated. Until then, it will be up to us to defend the complex, as now that it is activated, anyone can come in and change the settings as to whom the enemy is."

"Sounds easy." Stacy replied. "But I hear a catch."

"It takes four days for the reactors to fully warm up." The Krogan Battlemaster confirmed. Elias groaned, rolling his eyes, as if to say _of course_.

"Four days… galactic? Or Tuchankan days?" Royce asked slowly the Human Marine thinking in a way the Sentinel wasn't. Humans thought a day lasted 24 hours. A galactic day was 27 hours, due to the Asari 25 hour day and the Turian 30 hour day being compromised for both.

"Tuchankan." Greve answered, getting at what the N6 was asked. "32 hours each."

"Fuck." Chief Valentino muttered, knowing what Lieutenant Mason was driving at. She did the math in her head quickly; 128 hours. 128 hours of holding off who knew how many Reaper forces with 25 fighters and no ability to call for back-up. "Well, this is a balls-up'ed plan."

"You ain't shittin' me, Chief." Royce said, his eyes looking over the complex, and Stacy knew what the Australian-born man was doing; planning. If they were going to have to hold out here in the Defense array for more than five standard Earth days. The Chief Petty Officer knew that this was here N's truly made their names known; fighting against insurmountable odds with the use of tactics and cunning. Though Humanity had only been apart of the galactic community as a whole for the past thirty years, N-ranked soldiers had identified themselves through the galaxy on par with some of the best warriors amongst the other species, such as the Turian Blackwatch members, Asari Command Huntresses, Salarian STG, Krogan Battlemasters, Batarian Special Intervention members, Drell Silent Sentinels, and Elcor Heavy Weapons Mobile Team bulls. With an N6 and a Krogan Battlemaster on their side, Stacy didn't doubt that the twenty-five of them would be able to make the Reapers pay for every bloody inch of real estate. Especially since the Control Room and the complex itself had been built for defenders to fight off such numbers.

"Chief? I want no less than eight badass motherfuckers on the front door at any given moment." Royce told Chief Valentino, looking to her with hard eyes; the eyes of someone who was expecting hard times. "Split it up so that there is at least one sniper, one heavy weapons' specialist, and one to run recon and defense drones in each group. I know Krogan are fond of their Thresher-killin' shotguns," the Human looked over to Greve, who chuckled at the comment, "but I want assault rifles and heavy weapons out. If a breech looks like a possibility, we'll bring the thunder with the off-shifts to plug up any possible breeches with a pile of dead bodies, while the on-shift holds the Final Protective Line. No heroics, and no chargin'." A glare went to the Battlemaster, who said nothing. "We bunker down and we kill Reapers with tactics and overlappin' fields of fire, not suicidal charges."

"Not a reindition of Torfan '77. Got it." The Human Sentinel replied with an ugly tone, which had Royce look at her with a double-take, evidentaly unaware that she had been a part of that disasterous mission eight years before. "I'll see what our specialities are, but I recommend that we have at least one Biotic up front for firepower, not defense."

"I like it. Only one type of Reaper we've seen with Biotics, so we don't need to worry too much about defendin' ourselves against Warps, Throws, and Pulls. Thank God for that." The N6 noticed when Stacy crossed herself, and the Texan was grateful when he said nothing. "Any input, Battlemaster?"

"No mercy." Urdnot Greve replied simply, obviously liking Royce's plan. "And give my men something to occupy their free time with. A bored Krogan is not something you want to have. Fifteen of them are even worse."

"Poker games and drinking contests it is." Elias Korvan quipped, knowing that no one had brought alcohol or cards. "Perhaps we can get music and a pole, and convince Asha to 'entertain' our guests. Nothing like a dancing Asari to take a man's mind off the troubles of the world."

"Somehow, Elias, I don't think either Asha or Eloa would find that comment very amusing." Chief Stacy Valentino said with a smirk, only imagining what Asha T'vara or Eloa'Varis nar Tombay vas Thessia would think. "But feel free to tell highly-trained Asari Commando how you'd like her to shake her ass in front of a bunch of half-ton drooling Krogan. I'm going to bet Preitor Gavorn as to see what we'll need for your body; sponges or a spatula." Greve and Royce laughed out loud at that, and even the Turian sniper smiled as he shook his head, holding his hands up in the Turian hand gesture for defeat.

"Ok, ok, laugh it up while you can." Elias mock-pouted, dramatically cocking his head to one direction as if he thought he was better than them. "But five days of this, and you'll be _begging_ for a little ass-shaking to get your mind off things, and my leathery hide is thankfully not to anyone's tastes."

"I wouldn't mind seeing a chicken dancing around a pole, shaking his ass-plates." Stacy replied with a cruel smile, rubbing her thumb against her fingertips in the Human gesture for _payday_. "I'd sell that on the extranet and live off the profits."

"Royce? Please save me." The Turian fake-whimpered, a mock-pleading face pointed at the N6 Marine as he clasped his talons together in a begging fashion. "The Texan is talking dirty to me, and I'm scared. I'm afraid she might play _Cowboys and Turians_." That had both Human laughing loudly while the Krogan Battlemaster chuckled, content to watch.

"Alright, you cockney boondockers." Royce finished with a chuckle, the mirth obviously putting the N6 in a good mood. "Stacy? A word with you in private, please." The Sentinel gave the Lieutenant an odd look, but nodded her acceptance as they strolled away from the console of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array, away from the many Krogan and the members of the Chaos Legion. When Royce deemed that he was a sufficient distance away from prying ears, he stopped, facing away from everyone, crossing his arms across his chest in a position that suggested discomfort and unease.

"Stacy, I… I want to talk to you 'bout somethin' important." The Marine Lieutenant started, the subject of whatever he was about to bring up obviously not settling well with him. "I've talked to Asha and Elias about this, and they know my wishes, and they'll see this through. If I fall in battle, Elias and Asha will do their best to lead us through this until the Defense Array activates, and then pull out. But…" The ninteen year old Alliance officer went quiet, looking away from the Human Sentinel, doubt obvious in his face. "Stacy, if thin's go completely tits up, if we're gettin' overrun, I want you and Vona Arterius to get the hell outta dodge. Off Tuchanka. Outta the Krogan DMZ. I want you to link up with either the Alliance Command or the Turian Heirarchy; whichever's the easier for you to reach. Ditch and run for cover, and aid the resistance as best you can."

"But… _why?_" Stacy Valentino asked, feeling anger and dread filling her as she looked into Royce Mason's clear blue eyes, seeing no doubt there anymore. She had been through the Skyllian Blitz and the Bloodbath of Torfan, and even the Battle of the Citadel. She had never been clearcut orders to run; it had never been suggested. Why would Royce ask her of this? Her and… Tech Specialist, First Class Vona Arterius?

"It's because we have children, isn't it?" The Human Sentinel realized slowly, her voice weak as she thought of her son and daughter, Dane and Natasha. "If things go wrong, you want us to return to our families."

"Yes." The N6 sighed heavily, rubbing at one of his eyes. "I know what I ask ain't easy but… if this really is the End of Days, I want you to find your kids and find someplace the Reapers wouldn't think to look; a barren asteroid, some Venus-like hellhole, a lonely freighter dark and quiet… somethin'. I'm chargin' you with securin' the Enigma Signal, spread it around to as many friendly forces as possible, and then spend as much time holdin' and protectin' your kids." Royce went silent for a moment, his eyes going to the landscape outside the _Shaigur_ Defense Array control room, the defensive death trap concieved by the Krogan to defend against any threat. "Take it from someone who lost his entire family in a Geth Apocalypse; every last damn moment is precious. I could die at peace knowin' I _didn't_ take some kids' mothers away when they needed them the most."

"How did you know?" Stacy asked, her voice dull, unable to look away from the ground underneath her feet. She knew where they were at; with her ex-husband, John, on Tiptree. The last she had heard while on board the Turian Frigate TSV _Cherva Tern_ was that there had been no reported activity in the Widow System, not with the Citadel and Citael fleet so close. "I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to. I have access to your records, as well as that of the Turians." Royce admitted. "I didn't see much of your military record, but I did see your personnel record. I hadn't known you were a part of the offense on Torfan. Prehaps someone who survived that could find their way out of this mess. Remember, you and Vona. Go get your kids and don't let go of them. But make sure that you get that Signal out."

"I will. I promise." Chief Petty Officer Stacy Valentino answered finally, giving off a sigh of resignation as she looked to Royce's face, to show him that she meant it. "In truth, I haven't seen my kids in… years. I was planning on getting out this year so I could be there, make up for that time that I've missed. Reapers had other plans." The Texan looked out to the labrynthine courtyard that led towards the control room, to where Reaper forces would undoubtedly come from. "Thank you, Royce. For looking out. For caring. You hear leader types talk big about being their for families and such, but you're the second one I'v ever served under that actually did anything about it."

"Only the second, huh?" The Australian-born man repeated with a smile. "Such an elite inspiration. I take it you were fond of the first one."

"You could say that, considering you got your orders from the same person." Stacy told the N6, whose eyes went momentarily wide.

"No shit. You served under Commander Shepard?" To that, the Human Sentinel nodded her head, saything nothing else. "Was that before or after… you know…"

"During, Royce." Cheif Petty Officer Stacy Valentino answered, her tone strongly indicating that she didn't want to entertain any more questions. "During."

A/N: I'm so calling exclusive rights to the game _Cowboys and Turians_. I thought of it first, so I should get royalties! Plus, a hint of who Shepard might be… or not in this case; Shepard was not used as Thresher bait in Akuze.


	12. Chapter 11

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter 36 - The Messenger, Infinite, Day 13, 3 hours into defensive posture

"Lieutenant Mason? My drone is picking up movement." Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan said over his comm unit, her left mandible twitching in a half-grimace as he looked at the display on his OmniTool. "Lots of movement."

"_Animal, vegetable, or mineral?"_ Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason asked over the comm unit, his voice sounding chipper, but Elias knew better; the joke was to deflect the hint of dire times to come.

"Do the Reapers even fall under any of those classifications?" The Turian sniper mused outloud, still looking at the Haptic Display of his OmniTool while cradling the butt of his M92 Mantis sniper rifle on top of his shoulder, the talons of his right hand working the holographic tool on his left arm. "Looks like 100 plus contacts, Royce. Pulling up images now…" Elias switched the view to camera, watching the display turn from a radar-like screen to that of a vid. The resolution was grainy at best, thanks to the signal-interfering structure of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array, but he was able to pull up something of a clue as to what his drone had detected. "Looks like Husks and Cannibals, though the image is fuzzy at best."

"_Bloody hell."_ Royce grumbled, making the Turian sniper wince a little; Royce had gone to take a nap after staying up all night waiting for the Krogan to show up. _"Send your drone around to the other entrance points, make sure its only one group we're dealing with. My guess? They're testin' the waters, probin' us."_

"Got it, _koragin_." Elias replied, using the Turian word for 'one in charge'. "Here that, Preitor? A bunch of target practice is coming our way!"

"Good. I was getting bored." Captain Preitor Gavorn lamented as he hoisted his M76 Revenant, looking over the Krogan warrior who stood beside him, giving him a playful slap on his arm. "Thankfully, I brought my walking, talking bullet-magnent."

"Watch it, Turian." The Krogan replied, being one of the warriors that Battlemaster Urdnot Greve had brought in to secure the Ship-Killer complex. Elias hadn't really learned any of their names yet, but the five that stood sentry with them had been, for the most part, rather quiet and reserved, so unlike most Krogan. The Krogan hefted a M62 Torvah, a Batarian-made heavy weapon that was popular with pirates, mercs, and slavers. It wasn't the most accurate of Squad-Assisting Weapons, but the acceleration of the rounds fed through the core of the Torvah was slow, giving it a high-shot capacity that rivalled even that of the M76 Revenant. Many of the Krogan squad, which Greve called the 'Kruban Troop'. Elias knew that Kruban was the name of the third planet in the Aralach system, and considered a Krogan paradise. Of course, the planet itself was crushing deathtrap filled with noxious gases and toxic acids. Only the Krogan could love a place like that, the Turian sniper thought to himself with a shaking head as his drone made it towards another entrance. What he saw on his OmniTool had his mandibles frowning.

"More contacts coming from the east entrance… almost 200 hundred." The Turian looked to the ex-Blue Sun mercenary, Preitor giving off a grimace. "Sending drone to the west entrance… but I'm assuming this is going to be a full party."

"Sounds like a good party to me." One of the Kruban Troop Krogan said, hefting a Revenant in each of his hands. "I say bring the Reapers on! I've got something I'd like to say to them; goodbye!" That had the four other Krogan cheering while Elias, Prietor, and Eloa'Varis nar Tombay vas Thessia all exchanged glances with one another. The ex-Blue Suns mercenary merely shrugged his shoulders while Eloa'Varis shook her Turian-helmeted head.

"ETA, about a minute!" The Turian sniper called out, looking at the display on the OmniTool, seeing the contacts getting closer. "Over a 100 contacts to the west. Just around 400 total… and we should be seeing the first of them any second now!"

"Kruban Troop! Lock and load! Kill with extreme vengence!" One of the Krogan called out, Varc, Elias thought his name was. The first of the Husks began appearing through the columns and barriers of the plaza. Elias Korvan wasted no time ventilating a Cannibal's skull, his Mantis round turning it into a useless pulp as he ratched the thermal clip release, inserting another and taking out a Husk. The sound of gunfire on their side was deafening as the Krogan stood behind waist-high concrete barriers, blasting the incoming Reaper forces with exterem prejudice. M76 Revenants and T24 Phaestons chattered out their staccato fire as the Krogan kept their firing in short, accurate bursts, chewing up the sprinting Husks and supporting Cannibals. The sound of the M62 Torvah spitting out death in a torrent did well to suppress the incoming Reaper forces, knocking them back as the rest held off the mutated charge back at the columns before what Elias coined the 'No-Man's Land'; a 150 meter space in which no cover existed before the base of the ramp that would start the 100 meter switchback to the control room. Elias dropped Husk and Cannibal with each shot, every round he fired connecting with a mutated creature's skull. He could hear Eloa beside him firing off her M44 Kimber, sometimes supplimenting her fire with dark energy, using her Biotics for Singularities and Lifts.

"Their getting closer!" Elias called out as the majority of the horde they faced broke through the collection of colums and barriers that slowed their advance, breaking through the No-Man's Land. The Krogan stopped firing for accuracy and went for volumn as everyone began to fire more desperately. The Turain Cheif Tech Specialist stored his Mantis and pulled out his M15 Vindicator and started popping out three-round bursts as quickly as he could pull the trigger. Husks and Cannibals were dropping in waves as the Krogan swept their assault rifles back and forth in arcs, covering their fields of fire effectively as the bodies continued to hit the ground, reaching closer to the entrance of the ramp, leaving a trail of bodies behind them.

"Preitor! Get on Old Painless!" Elias called out, trusting the ex-Blue Suns soldier to be able to opperate the M320 Vulcan cannon better than her. Captain Preitor Gavorn merely nodded as he slapped in a fresh thermal clip in his Phaeston, handing it over to Elias as the Turian soldier rushed over to Lieutenant Royce Mason's heat sink-reliant heavy weapon. The Chief Tech Specialist was firing the Phaeston with full abandon whien he heard the familiar spinning whine of the multi-barrelled anti-personnel weapon activating, rounds spitting out of the devestating deathdealing cannon in a massive roar that drowned out the cresendo of fire from every other weapon. Preitor had planted the bottom of the weapon against a concrete wall for support as he began to sweep the murderous finger of death that the Vulcan produced, shredding through Husk and Cannibal as if they were made out of tissue.

Each Reaper-mutated creature practically exploded with touched by the high rate-of-fire that they M320 produced, eighteen rounds per second at a miniscule fraction the speed of light enough to give anything pause. Husks were often practically vaporized while Cannibals turned itno pink mists when the stream of bullets met them. Elais slapped another thermal clip into Preitor's Phaeston, racking the Heavy Assault Weapon and firing it at full auto as the Reaper advance finally faltered more than two dozen meters away from the entrance of the ramp. Survivors turned and fell back towards the plaza, but no orders were needed as to what to do; no one had any compunctions against shooting Reapers in the back. Husks and Cannibals fell fleeing as the five Krogan, two Turians, and lone Quarian killed as many Reapers as they could while the enemy forces were routed back.

"That's all you got!" One Krogan roared, hefting a Revenant over his head in a position of defiant victory. "WE! ARE! KROGAN! You have to do better, you pyjaks!"

"No one doubts that they will try." Elias commented for Eloa'Varis' ears alone, her Turian-helmeted head nodding in agreement. "You okay, _palishna_?"

"I am fine, Elias. Thank you for asking." The Biotic Quarian replied, placing a three-fingered hand on the sniper's forearm. "Preitor did well with Lieutenant Royce's weapon. I'm glad he left it here for emergency use. Without it…"

"I know." Elias muttered, knowing exactly what Eloa was getting at. The Vulcan was a devestating weapon, and had single-handedly taken out at least a quarter of the Reaper forces, and that had been during the last 100 meters. "I think it would be to our advantage to have someone posted with it at all times. Once the Reapers get past the barricades, that thing can make the difference between an overrun and a halted attack. I'll speak to Royce about making some chokepoints and funnels, to stagger any Reaper advancements and create fatal hallways. Any advantage we can make for us will pay off in the long run."

"Not bad thinking for a techie." Captain Preitor Gavorn commented, giving Elias an one-mandible smile. "Tell you what. Pop out your drones for a scan and a patrol, give me the viewer in case more come back, and you head back there and tell our little N6 your idea. I'm sure that he and Battlemaster Greve will make something happen to that effect. Before another horde of Reapers come knocking on our door."

"Just remember; shoot the messenger!" Varc called out, getting a chuckle from the other Krogan on sentry duty.

A/N: Title taken from the song 'The Messenger, Infinite' by Rosaline. Plus, the introduction of yet another Red Shirt Army!


	13. Chapter 12

**Bioware owns Mass Effect. The OC's are mine.**

Chapter 37 - More Than Meets The Eye, Day 13, 11 hours into defensive posture

"Clear!"

Asari Commando Asha T'vara merely ducked behind the low wall as the sound of explosives detonating, the ground around her shaking as the thundering sound of concrete shattering, a pillar falling to the ground in the plaza booming as it struck the ground. The 192-year old Asari looked over the barrier to see that the chokepoint that Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason and Battlemaster Urdnot Greve desired had been expertly created with the help of herself and Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan. More than a few members of the Chaos Legion had come up with ideas and designs to help defend the control room of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array from the invading Reaper forces, especially since the mutated creatures had taken a few attempts to do so. The idea had been to turn the No-Man's Land into a ringed bowl with three chokepoints to feed the enemy forces where they wanted, and to keep the Reapers from trying to explode through.

What they created was a death trap.

Pillars had been detonated and knocked down to funnel Reaper forces into three corridors, fatal funnels in which a hundred meter avenue with no escape had been created. Other barriers made from available debris had been made to ensure that the Reapers would have no choice but to take the funnels, in which the full length was exposed to the defenders. They had done their job well; for about 300 meters, there was no hiding ground, no defense, and no cover from the Kruban Troop or the Chaos Legion members. A few attempts by the Reapers had them refine the death trap, and as Asha looked at their plan to kill the Reapers more efficiently, the Asari smiled as she looked over to Staff Lieutenant Royce Mason, who stood up to look at their handiwork.

"Now that's a thin' of beauty." The N6 Marine announced, eyeballing the lethal trap they had made for the Reaper forces. "A contingent of Krogan wouldn't be able to survive that, not with the guns we've got."

"Brutes might make it worse for us, but we've got charges set up for such a scenario." The Asari Commando commented, the proximity charges that Chief Tech Specialist Elias Korvan and Engineer Frst Class Vian Torvan had installed to help bleed the Reapers in case things got hectic. "Makes me wish we had something like this when we faced that Behemoth back on Menae."

"What's a Behemoth?" Battlemaster Urdnot Greve asked, looking at the Asari warrior with one eye, not even turning his head as Krogan were sometimes wont to do. Having two seperately operating eyes could be quite advantageous, Asha thought to herself, though seeing it in action was quite disturbing. Even the four-eyed Batarians could only look at one thing at a time.

"Big, nasty motherfucker, a Reaperized Yahg that gave us fits tryin' to kill." Mason explained somberly to the Krogan. "A Batarian SIU Agent was the one resposible for bringing it down by shoving a grenade its throat… alone with his arm. Like Asha said, not somethin' I hope to repeat."

"I hate to think what else the Reapers can throw at us." The Asari Commando muttered darkly.

The sound of incoming made Asha T'vara realize that she had spoken too soon.

The whistling sound that erupted through the Tuchanka atmosphere had everyone ducking their heads behind cover as several booms of the sound barrier being broken by multiple objects being launched from an orbital position announced itself. Asha took a glance upwards to see a large dark object flying overhead quickly, going from one end of the horizon to the other in a streak of speed that was mind-boggling. She had seen a few extranet vids and pics of Reapers, both Destroyer and Sovereign varients. The Asari knew that it had been a Sovereign-class Reaper in the skies of Tuchanka.

And it had launched something at them.

The sounds of several objects impacting into the ground brought the attention of the eight people standing guard on the entrance of the Control Room of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array, their heads sticking up from the cover that they sought from the attack. What Asha saw was seven large, black, coffin-like objects imapled into the ground. They stood over ten meters in height, having broken the ground from where they landed. The shape of them was strange; they were like pillars, with small pyramids on top, completely smooth on the surface without any indication what they were for or what they did.

"What the hell are those?" Battlemaster Greve asked, looking over to the Human Marine and Asari Commando.

"Looks like… well, looks like the monolith things from '2001: A Space Odessey', the part with the monkeys." Chief Petty Officer Stacy Valentino commented, the Sentinel said as she walked up, investigating the noise that the Reaper had brought. The rest of the Kruban Troop and Chaos Legion that were 'off' had come out to see what new threat the Reapers had brought them. "Maybe we'll be picking up clubs and start killing each other off."

"Shit…" The N6 Lieutenant looked over to the Human Sentinel, then to the Asari Commando, and finally to the Krogan Battlemaster, his face going pale. "It's Reaper tech. That means Indoctrination at the very least. We got to find a way to destroy those Kubriks before we start… I don't know, start spoutin' Krogan poetry and throwin' fecal matter at one another."

"Cute." Asha shook her head, trying to get past the horror of a poetry-spouting Krogan, remembering one who did just that on Nos Astra less than a year ago. "We should bring them down as soon as possible. I have a bad feeling about them…"

No sooner did her words hit the wind that the seven black monolith-like pillars begin to hum, and annoying hum that rattled the teeth and build a migrain in the brain. Asha gritted her teeth as she winced, feeling as if her head were being split open as yellow energy began to build up at the points of the objects that Royce had called the… 'Kubriks'. The Asari noticed that everyone was wincing in pain, and a few, like Eloa'Varis nar Tombay vas Thessia, were actively clutching their heads. The hum grew louder, bringing everyone to their knees painfully as the yellow energy began shooting in betwen each point of the Kubriks, linking each of the seven monoliths together like a spider's web. The sound-like disturbance grew more painful with each passing second, and every member of the Kruban Troop and the Chaos Legion were either on their knees or rolling on the ground in agony as the yellow energy beams grew thicker and stronger, pulsing with power. Asha gritted her teeth as she tried to stand and activate her Biotics, the noise and the pain making it next to impossible to concentrate as she felt the static charge of Biotic energy slowly building up in her arms as she raised one arm, flinging out a weak Warp towards the center of where the beams converged, like a small sun growing less than a hundred meters away from them. The orb of dark energy struck the convergence of yellow energy, and the molecular-distorting orb of Biotic energy impacted the focal point.

The result was catastrophic.

Asha felt her body being picked up from the ground and launched away from the plaza and the No-Man's Land as the focal point exploded, a loud thunderclap of sound blasting everyone who held the control room of the _Shaigur_ Defense array. The Asari Commando felt herself smacking into a concrete wall hard, falling back down a few feet to the ground as the others were similiarly tossed about like ragdolls. Asha T'vara rolled onto her back, blinking her eyes several times as aching pain radiated throughout her body, making her gasp for breath, painfully explosive coughs escaping past her natural blue lips as she tried to breath, feeling as if she were doing so underwater. She looked around and saw that the only one reasonably on their feet was none other than Lieutenant Royce Mason, holding his M320 Vulcan cannon in his hands. The Human Marine was down on one knee, and the Asari was surprised to see that he was firing the chain gun at something, the multiple barrels spinning in a blur. The sound of the anti-personnel weapon firing was greatly muted, and the sight initially didn't make sense to the Vanguard as she rolled onto her stomach, and painfully pushed herself upward with on hand, the other drawing her M77 Paladin that was on her left hip. Her eyes were attracted to a small shape moving near the entrance of the control room where the ramp fed towards them, and the Asari Commando lifted her gun and fired three times, her vision somewhat swimming as she struck whatever it was that Royce was firing at. The thing fell down as something else came up to replace it, and Asha emptied her Paladin at the blurry thing, her gun clicking when her thermal clip was maxed out.

Though her thoughts were disjointed, Asha T'vara knew that they were about to be run over.

She struggled to get up, her body feeling as if it weighed a ton as she got up on jellified limbs. Though replacing the thermal clip in her Paladin was done with practiced ease, it still felt to the Asari as if she were moving through water. Firing from one knee, Asha pulled out a grenade from the other, activating it with the push of a button, and doing her best to throw it at the top of the ramp, where three figures stood, somewhat looking like Batarians. The grenade cooked off a few seconds later, sending the Batarian-looking creatures airborne as a Krogan got up to his feet near Asha, pulling out a large shotgun. With a roar, the Krogan began to blast at the ramp's end, where more and more blurry figures began to populate the entrance to the control room. The Asari pulled out her other Paladin, holding one in each hand and added to the volume of fire as the Krogan charged in, knocking as one humanoid figure while ramming his bony head-plate into another.

Both of Asha's pistols clipped emptied as her vision grew better, the fuzziness clearing up and the swiming motion subsided. The Asari saw that there were about a dozen Reapers climbing to the top of the platform that contained the control room of the _Shaigur_ Defense Array. Most were Marauders, with a Cannibal or two, their weapons at the ready. Dropping her pistols, the Commando threw out a weak Shockwave, still disoriented from whatever it was the Kubriks did. Several of the Cannibals staggered from the pulse of dark energy as more gunshots were placed into the Reapers. Royce's minigun quickly chopped the rest of the Reapers in seconds, but more came on top of the ramp, Husks and Batarians screaming out their war cries. Asha pulled out her M15 Vindicator, pulling the trigger on her three-round burst assault rifle as fast as she could, putting out as much volume as possible as more and more Reapers climbed the top of the ramp. The Asari Commando could hear more gunshots coming from the members of the Kruban Troop and the Chaos Legion, assault rifles and shotguns blasting as Human and Batarian-mutated Reapers began to assault the platform of the control room.

As Asha T'vara pulled the trigger again, running through the thermal clip, she could feel the familiar feeling of a hum in the air building up. She didn't have to be told that the Kubriks were firing up again as more Reapers continued to assault the _Shaigur_ Defense Array.

"This shit's more than meets the eye!" Royce shouted, pulsing his

A/N: Title taken from the song 'More than meets the eye' by Testament. A nod to Stanley Kubrik and his amazing movie, 2001: A Space Odessy. I named the black monoliths after him and the intro to that memorable movie. If you've never seen it on a big screen (and I mean like a movie theater screen) then you have truly missed out on that scene and the size of a Stanford Torus.


End file.
